Gaming and esports giant Nazara Technologies has invested ₹4.74 crore in two global venture capital funds focused on early-stage gaming startups. The Mumbai-based company announced through a stock exchange filing that it has infused $300,000 (₹2.6 Cr) in Play Venture Fund III and $250,000 (₹2.14 Cr) in F4 Venture Fund I, positioning itself as a limited partner (LP) in both vehicles.
This strategic allocation follows the in-principle approval Nazara received in May 2024 to invest up to $2 million (₹16.6 Cr) in Play Ventures and $250,000 (₹2.1 Cr) in F4 Fund. According to the company, the committed capital will be deployed over a 3–4 year period, strengthening Nazara’s global footprint in the gaming startup ecosystem.
Singapore-based Play Ventures, the operator of Fund III, is one of the most active gaming VCs globally. With a $140 million corpus, the fund focuses on investments across mobile games, AI-powered development tools, and gaming infrastructure. Play Ventures’ portfolio includes promising startups such as Defi Alliance, Cypher, and M League.
The F4 Venture Fund I, based in the United States, was co-founded in 2023 by gaming veterans David Kaye and Joakim Achrén. It invests across gaming, AI, SaaS, social, and consumer tech from seed to Series B stages. F4 backs ventures globally, including in the UAE and US, with portfolio companies like Noice, Baby.ai, and After Hour.
This announcement came a day after Nazara revealed that its esports subsidiary Nodwin Gaming has extended the timeline to acquire a 92.3% stake in AFK Gaming, an esports content platform. The ₹7.58 Cr deal is now expected to close by July 30, 2025.
Simultaneously, Nazara stated it would not exercise its call option to increase its stake in Moonshine Technologies Pvt Ltd (MTPL) — the operator of PokerBaazi — citing its already significant holding of 46.07% equity and 4.87 lakh CCPS.
The company has remained active on the M&A front, recently concluding its acquisition of Smaaash Entertainment, a sports entertainment firm that had undergone insolvency proceedings.
Financially, however, Nazara witnessed a 53% quarter-on-quarter drop in consolidated net profit to ₹4.1 crore in Q4 FY25, while its FY25 net profit also slipped 32% year-on-year to ₹51 crore. Despite this, its operating revenue surged 43% YoY to ₹1,623.9 Cr, driven by momentum across segments. The dip in profitability, particularly in the real-money gaming vertical, was attributed to heavy marketing expenses by PokerBaazi.
As of the latest trading session, Nazara’s shares closed 0.34% higher at ₹1,320 on the BSE, reflecting moderate investor confidence amid the company’s aggressive investment and consolidation strategy.
