Nitish Mittersain on building Nazara Technologies, a 5000 Crore Gaming company

In a recent report as per KPMG, “Online gaming industry in India is going to be worth Rs.29,000 crore by FY25.”

Have you heard about Nazara Technologies?

Probably Yes, when its IPO came in March 2021, as it was very well highlighted in the News, being one of the portfolio companies of Rakesh Jhunjhunwala.

Nazara’s founder and the guest of our today’s episode, Nitish Mittersain probably saw this coming much early, almost 20 years back.

With its IPO, Nazara gave 80%+ as listing gains to its IPO applicants, this reflects how well the Indian stock market has reacted to a gaming company, and also highlights the potential of India’s gaming industry in years to come.

During the podcast, Nitish talks about his journey of building a gaming company in India, when no one believed that gaming as a domain was properly monetizable. 

He also shares how Nazara got listed in NSE & BSE and how it impacts the company's future growth plans.

Notes - 

01:14 - Textile business family background; coding games in BASIC

02:33 - Started Nazara in 1999 while he was 1st year in college

04:27 - 2000 Dot-Com Bubble - “I often say, I did an expensive but enriching MBA, sitting here in Bombay.”

06:54 - Focus on Cash Flows; not chasing vanity metrics

07:13 - Raising funds & Friends of Nazara

07:59 - Acquisition since 2015 - NODWIN Gaming & Nextwave Multimedia among others

08:44 - Synergy between the acquirer & the acquiree company

10:14 - “Over a 20+ years journey gaming always looked like a mirage in the desert.”

13:10 - “Just trying to run a profitable business today may not be good enough.”

14:56 - Advantage of being the only listed gaming company

20:09 - Source of Revenue: In-app purchases vs Advertising

20:51 - What convinced Rakesh Jhunjhunwala to invest?

24:53 - Getting listed in Indian markets being a startup

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