Volano Entertainment Pvt Ltd, a Delhi-based startup that owns and operates GameOn India- an online sports community for working people, has raised an undisclosed amount in angel funding from angel investor Shiven Malhotra, who had earlier invested in the online skill assessment platform Mettl. Shiven Malhotra runs Strategic Investments by Design (SID), an investment management firm based in San Francisco Bay Area.
Volano is already in talks with a few other investors for a second round of funding.
Adnan Adeeb, co-founder and MD of GameOn India, said, “The money raised will be used for scaling up our team and expanding our operations pan-India. Primarily a Delhi-based firm, we will be expanding into multiple cities in the near future. Secondly, since this is a new concept, we will be very aggressive in terms of marketing and customer acquisition.â€
The startup was co-founded by the husband-wife duo of Adnan Adeeb (MD) and Zeba Zaidi Adeeb (CEO) and they set up GameOn India in December 2011. Prior to starting this venture, Zeba worked with companies like Corporate Executive Board, ZK Finance Ltd, Evolve Marketing and the Times of India. Adnan had earlier worked with a number of companies including iGATE-Patni Computer Systems, Patni Telecom Solutions, Trisoft Systems Pvt Ltd, e-business navigators, Inc and Morning Star General Trading, among others. He holds an MA in Business Management, strategy and international sales from Kingston University while Zeba has graduated from Lady Sri Ram College.
GameOn India connects people through its Sportal- a sports portal with interactive features that allow users to interact with community members in the online space. Users can register either as a team or as individuals but one has to pay an entry fee for registration. Last we checked, the joining rates for cricket were Rs 2,200 for an individual, Rs 17,600 for a team for the GameOn India Casual Cricket League and Rs 55,000 for a team for the GameOn Corporate Competitive League.
The company provides the venue, playing equipment and refreshments, and it also claims to use professional umpires for the matches. As of now, the sports available on the site include cricket, football, basketball, badminton, tennis, running, hockey, duathlon (running and biking) and touch football/rugby.
“Meeting a bunch of like-minded professionals and connecting on common sporting interests have a strong social network effect which we have been able to capitalise on,†added Adnan.
Commenting on the investment, Shiven Malhotra said, “I am confident about the concept and the execution quality of the team. The company should be able to capture a share of the weekend wallet of the growing class of working professionals in urban India.†Last we checked, the GameOn India site showed Malhotra’s designation as director.
Advisory and investment firm Ariv Advisers acted as advisor to the startup for the transaction.
(Edited by Sanghamitra Mandal)