WinZO, India’s largest vernacular e-sports gaming platform, today announced the launch of a $1.5 million fund aimed at supporting game developers and acquiring high-quality content for its platform.
Backed by Kalaari Capital, WinZO currently offers 25+ games on its app-based platform across 10 languages—English, Hindi, Bangla, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Gujarati, Marathi, Punjabi, and Bhojpuri. The platform focuses on delivering real-time, multiplayer mobile gaming experiences that are social, inclusive, and accessible, particularly for first-time smartphone users in Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets.
The newly announced fund will be deployed to develop localized content in collaboration with select game developers from India and across the globe, strengthening WinZO’s vernacular-first strategy.
Notably, over 80% of WinZO’s users engage with the platform in non-English languages. The average time spent on the app stands at 55 minutes per session, with only 10% of users coming from metro cities—underscoring the platform’s deep penetration in Bharat markets.
Announcing the fund, Mr. Paavan Nanda, Co-founder, WinZO, said, “Through this fund, we aim to partner with gaming studios as well as independent developers by providing them with the infrastructure to create high-quality content and a robust platform to monetize their games from day one. A sector gets disrupted when the best talent actively works towards unlocking its potential. With this initiative, we look forward to engaging with top-tier talent eager to make a mark in the global gaming ecosystem.”
He added, “WinZO’s social multiplayer skill gaming platform clocks over 100 million gaming minutes daily and has successfully monetized this engagement. The company is growing at 50% month-on-month. While large OTT platforms continue to face monetization challenges in India, WinZO is enabling the first meaningful media and entertainment transactions from Tier 2 and Tier 3 audiences.”
WinZO is designed to address one of the biggest challenges in the Indian gaming ecosystem—monetization. Despite high engagement levels, with over 300 million internet users spending more than 45 minutes daily on mobile gaming, in-app purchases remain limited and advertising revenues lag behind global benchmarks.
The rapid increase in smartphone penetration and mobile usage has significantly accelerated the growth of mobile gaming in India. On average, users spend 3–4 hours daily on their mobile devices consuming entertainment, including OTT, gaming, music, and e-commerce. Among these, gaming has emerged as the fastest-growing segment, creating substantial opportunities across employment, content development, user engagement, and market expansion.
