OKIE Ventures Pvt Ltd, which operates online gaming platform OKIE Gaming, has secured funding from actor Kajal Aggarwal, it said on Tuesday.
Mumbai-based OKIE Gaming did not disclose the amount it raised but said Aggarwal will hold a 15% stake in the company and join it as a board member.
The larger OKIE Ventures has interests in manufacturing, gaming and digital technology segments. The company was set up by Jitin Masand. Its gaming platform operates a ‘Desi Sports League’.
“The gaming industry is booming at this time; this is the right moment to be part of it,” Aggarwal said. “With OKIE Gaming, I also hope to influence and open new avenues for women gamers in India.”
Masand said Aggarwal’s investment will help the brand scale itself by leveraging her insights and wide reach.
The investment is indicative of the growing bets being made in the online- and skill-based gaming segments. Institutional and individual investors have committed capital to startups of all sizes.
Earlier this month, the influencer-led live social gaming platform Tamasha.live raised Rs 2.5 crore in a seed funding round from investors including 9Unicorns, Titan Capital, First Cheque and LivSpace co-founder Ramakant Sharma.
In September, cricket commentator and analyst Harsha Bhogle invested in Fantasy Akhada, a cricket- and football-focussed fantasy sports platform.
September also saw two of the bigger players in the segment secure large cheques. Marquee investors Tiger Global and TPG led a $225 million (around Rs 1,650 crore) round in Dream11. The round comprised a primary capital infusion and secondary transactions.
Separately, digital gaming startup Mobile Premier League raised $90 million (about Rs 661 crore) in a Series C funding round that was led by Susquehanna International Group, a global trading firm based near Philadelphia, and existing investor RTP Global.
