Gaming industry’s AAA quest; Transition VC’s new fund

Hello,

Zomato’s finally stepping out to party with Paytm’s entertainment ticketing business.

Paytm parent One 97 Communications agreed to sell the arm to Zomato for a whopping Rs 2,048 crore in cash, in a deal months in the making.

This is all part of a strategy by the companies to focus on key businesses–Paytm with its payments and financial services operations, and Zomato with its new stepping out vertical District.

Meanwhile, even as ecommerce giants like Flipkart and Amazon have conquered India’s retail landscape, they may have left a wave of casualties in their wake: brick-and-mortar stores.

At least according to Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, who sounded the alarm on ecommerce firms’ “predatory” business practices, and warned of potential disruption to small retailers.

The numbers don’t lie: nearly 50% of consumers in Tier III cities spend about three hours per week on online shopping, according to the Net Impact of E-Commerce on Employment and Consumer Welfare in India report.

Convenience is king, after all.

ICYMI: What happens when AI is left unfettered to push the limits of technological possibilities and ethics? Grok-2 is giving us a live view into the aftermath.

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Indian gaming industry’s worries 
• Transition VC’s new fund
• LEAD eyes EBITDA break-even

Here’s your trivia for today: What is the scientific method of dating tree rings called?

Gaming

Indian gaming industry’s worries

Made in India games like Nodding Heads’ critically acclaimed Raji: An Ancient Epic and Bengaluru-based nCORE Games’ Fearless and United Guards (FAU-G) have tried to attract online gamers, but haven’t quite made a mark compared to global titles. 

The industry’s quest to break into the coveted AAA game market has three daunting hurdles: development costs, investor skepticism, and tax. 

Play to win:

• Funding in the ecosystem is few and far between. Bengaluru-based LightFury Games raised $8.5 million in a seed round led by Blume Ventures in April this year. 
• According to multiple founders, they approach investors after developing a vertical slice—a segment of the game that has been fully developed and polished which represents the core of its gameplay. 
• The Indian government is in the process of implementing the AVGC-XR (Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, Comics and Extended Reality) Policy which looks to boost development in the space. 

<Funding Alert>

Startup: Livpure

Amount: Rs 208 Cr

Round: Undisclosed 

Startup: Uppercase 

Amount: $9M

Round: Series B

Startup: Zoff 

Amount: Rs 40 Cr

Round: Series A

Venture capital

Transition VC’s new fund

Bengaluru-based Transition VC plans to roll out a $150 million international fund in 2026, Co-founder and Managing Partner Mohammed Shoeb Ali told YourStory. 

This would be the venture capital firm’s second fund after the Rs 400 crore fund, which got regulatory approval in 2022 for three years and made its first close in mid-2023. 

Money:

• According to Ali, the first fund has been subscribed to around 65%-70% so far. He wants the remaining 30% of investments to come from foreign institutions like development finance institutions (DFI) from Europe. 
• The VC fund has invested in battery tech startup EMO Energy and EV charging network company Charge Zone, among others.
• Transition VC, which has invested an undisclosed amount in hydrogen fuel cell startup Protonas, said its next big focus is long-duration energy storage (LDES) technology. 

Edtech

LEAD eyes EBITDA break-even

India’s edtech sector has seen a few rough months. However, for  LEAD, a Mumbai-based B2B startup, EBITDA break-even seems to be on the horizon. The company has clocked a revenue of Rs 370 crore in FY 2023-24, marking a 25% year-on-year growth while slashing its cash burn by 65%.

It achieved EBITDA positivity in Q1 FY 2024-25 and is on course to reach EBITDA break-even for the full fiscal year, steadily advancing on its journey toward profitability. 

Key takeaways:

• The school edtech company did not disclose its FY24 losses, expenditure, or other financial figures in the statement.
• Earlier this year, LEAD appointed Arpit Jain as Chief Financial Officer and Arvind Singhal as Chief Growth Officer to bolster its leadership team.
• These strategic hires were aimed at driving expansion into new regions through new school partnerships and growth within its current school networks.

News & updates

• Shelved: Ford Motor is cancelling plans for a large electric sport-utility vehicle and expects to take $1.9 billion in related special charges and write-downs, as automakers continue adjusting their EV plans because of softer-than-expected demand.
• Trade tensions: China has opened an anti-subsidy probe into imported dairy products from the European Union, stepping up tension with the bloc a day after Brussels released its revised draft decision related to tariffs on China-made electric vehicles.
• Tech probes: The UK’s antitrust regulator closed its probe into app stores run by Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Apple Inc. ahead of the implementation of new laws, which give it more power to rein in the dominance of a handful of major tech firms.

What is the scientific method of dating tree rings called?

Answer: Dendrochronology.

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