Games2win (g2w) India has announced that it has raised approximately US$ 5 million from two leading venture capital firms - Clearstone and SVB Financial Group. Clearstone is the lead investor in the company and has invested the majority portion of the funds.
Games2win India Pvt Ltd was spun out as a separate entity in late 2006 from Contests2win.com India as a stand-alone business, dedicated to the online gaming marketplace. g2w is Headed by serial entrepreneur Alok Kejriwal (CEO) who is dedicating his time and attention to this new business The co-founders of g2w also include Cyrus Oshidar (most recently the creative head of MTV Networks) and Mahesh Khambadkone (previously with Dhruva Interactive and Lisle Technologies ).

Games2win has been operating its casual games website, www.games2win.com for the past 6 months.The site attracts Indian and international gamers who are served exclusive games that are created by the in-house studios of g2w and has attracted large advertisers such as Tata Sky, Zee Group, AXN amongst others. The company also intends to be an aggressive player in the Massive Multiplayer Online Games (MMOG) business in India and has signed up an exclusive world class title for release in India in May 07. The investments received will be used for capital investments, joint ventures, brand building and working capital requirements.

Alok Kejriwal - Founder and CEO of Games2win shared 'We are delighted to be partnering with Clearstone and SVB at the early stage of g2w's growth. Our investors have deep experience in helping consumer facing web companies to scale and go to market and we also intend to significantly leverage their well placed connections in the global economy. Also, as we scale rapidly, our investors will be well placed to help us with additional rounds of financing'
Clearstone Director Rahul Khanna shared - "Internet users in India are still highly underserved when it comes to online entertainment that's relevant and compelling. With its unique blend of topical, irreverent and action-packed games we are confident that Games2win will be a dominant player in the rapidly growing online gaming marketplace in India. With Clearstone's track record of building category leading consumer internet businesses like Paypal, MP3.com and Etoys we look forward to building Games2Win into a globally recognized brand"

"With the emergence of gaming as a significant channel of entertainment in India and the region, SVB is excited to be making this investment in Games2Win," said Ash Lilani, Head of SVB Global, which helps SVB Financial Group clients navigate global technology and venture capital markets. "In addition to their considerable creative talent, Alok and his team have the essential business experience and a proven track record that positions them for success."

In a conversation with AnimationXpress.com Clearstone's Rahul Khanna elaborated "Fundamentally you have to have differentiated content and G2W with its slew of titles built around day to day life in India has a unique proposition and a lot of that comes from professionals like Alok Kejriwal and Cyrus Oshidar who turned MTV around in India. We believe that gaming is a large opportunity and this team brings a large domain expertise" added Khanna"

"The bet is not just on the content business but on a brand that will stand for gaming and entertainment for Indian and South Asians. The bet is also on distribution strength. Besides its own traffic that it generates, Games2Win is also aggregated by portals like Indya and MsnIndia as well as global portals. It is building its distribution engine in the last mile for content" he added.

There will be three broad product categories atGames2Win including Online Casual Games, Massively Multiplayer Online games and Downloadable Online Games. The first MMO is an international title that has been licensed and Games2Win is currently localising and testing and is scheduled for a May launch. It will be available in branded retail as well as in internet cafes and Games2Win has entered into an agreement with Sify which will be pre installing these MMO titles in their cafes as well as stock cash cards and display a lot of Point of sale communication. The downloadable online games which will feature a lot of desi art and storytelling based content for local consumers as well as the Indian diaspora"

"The Category is really coming of age, and all of the lessons learnt from the internet are going to be applied to this new form of entertainment online" he concluded.

- Anand Gurnani

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