Indian gaming startup nCore says it will use the fresh funding to establish Web3 gaming projects, plans an NFT initiative later in the year.
nCore Games, an Indian gaming platform, recently raised $10 million in funding for the planned launch of Web3 initiatives. The funding round had lead investors such as blockchain gaming firm Animoca Brands and digital entertainment-centric VC firm Galaxy Interactive. In addition, blockchain-focused protocol Polygon and financial tech support platform Hyperedge Capital also participated in the exercise. Rounding out the investor pool was a long list of angel investors, including Amitabh Singhal, Sandeep Nailwal, Kanwaljit Bombra, and Sanjay Narang.
According to the company’s co-founder Vishal Gondal in a media session, nCore looks to channel the fresh capital towards developing and supporting several Web3 games this year. The gaming company previously developed a range of popular and successful games, judging by the number of downloads. Some of these include multiplayer action-title Fau-G and Pro Cricket Mobile. nCore also houses multiple gaming studios, including Studio nCore, Dot9 Games, and IceSpice.
Sam Englebardt, General Partner at Galaxy Interactive, also touched on the development, as well as the emerging Indian gaming market. According to him, “the growth of gaming in India is already undeniable and the market is poised to take another huge leap forward.”
Amid Recent Funding, nCore Aims to Tap Into the Metaverse
Presently, nCore’s ultimate goal is to leverage the fast-emerging metaverse in addition to launch its non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Gondal suggested that this may be possible within the next few months.
India has a pronounced gaming market – one of the largest in the world by download counts (tens of millions). However, some firms in the space still struggle to monetize their user base for many reasons. These include poor reception to in-app purchases as well as small ticket advertising dollars. For this, Gondal asserts that the Web3 offerings will remedy the situation via incentives such as owning a stake in the games. As the nCore co-founder put it:
“Currently when you’re playing a game, the maximum upside for you was to become part of some community. Now while you’re playing the game, you also have the chance to own the value of the game.”
Gondal also referenced the respective gaming markets of Indonesia and the Philippines where, just like India’s, in-app revenue is mediocre. Here, he also stated that Web3 would offer a favorable incentive structure to all shareholders.
Web3 is beginning to grow in popularity and application in India, with several business activities underscoring this. There has also been a marked increase in NFT adoption in various facets of the Indian sector. For instance, Faze, an Indian startup backed by Tiger Global and Sequoia Capital India, partnered with the International Cricket Council last year. Pursuant to this initiative, Faze is to launch and supply NFTs for cricketers under the auspices of the global governing body. Beyond that, Faze is also reportedly looking to raise a new financing round from Insight Partners. In addition, the startup also has partnerships with several Indian movie stars to launch their own NFTs.
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