Gaming start-up Sahaj Gaming has raised pre-seed funding led by Antler India. The recently launched beta of the company’s 1ludo has already seen 25,000 pre-registrations, the start-up claimed.
The game is available for pre-registration on the Google Play store and is expected to go live shortly. The RMG variant of the game will be available soon after the free-to-play Google Play Store release, it added.
The start-up was founded by former VP and head of product at Games24x7, Deepak Saini, and his former colleague Rahul Bantiya, who led revenue growth and retention for RummyCircle, a major online rummy platform.
It aims to build a suite of games rooted in Indian culture such as Ludo, Snakes and Ladders, Tambola, and Checkers, the company added in its release.
Deepak Saini, Founder and CEO of Sahaj Gaming said, “India has a long cultural history of board games. Popular board games like Ludo, Chess, Snakes, and Ladders, and Checkers are modern iterations of their ancient counterparts dating back thousands of years. Over time, these games have evolved in shape, form, and gameplay, leading to their current-day avatars. Using our deep understanding of game design and player psychology, we transform these games into skill-based tournaments, making our games relevant in the modern global gaming scenario.”
Commenting on the scale of the opportunity, Rahul Bantiya, co-founder and CMO of Sahaj Gaming said, “Gaming is set to become bigger than music, movies, and television shows combined and has started growing rapidly in India over the last decade. We see incredible potential in this space with an Rs 25,000 crores market currently, which is set to triple by 2030. There are over 50 crore gamers in India, and our objective is to build a gaming powerhouse that can entertain millions of gamers not only in India but across the globe."
Commenting on the investment, Rajiv Srivatsa, partner at Antler in India added, “Despite macro uncertainties given recent changes in taxation for the gaming industry, we continue to be bullish on the gaming opportunity in India. With Deepak and Rahul’s experience building and scaling some of India’s most beloved games, we are excited to partner with them as they build a new-age gaming company from India with global ambitions.”
Antler is a global early-stage venture capital firm that invests in the defining technology companies of tomorrow. The firm has offices globally across most major entrepreneurial hubs, including London, Berlin, Bangalore, Stockholm, New York, Singapore, and Sydney.
Founded in Singapore in 2017, the investment firm has invested in over 1000 companies globally, the investment firm said.
