Gaming startup Zupee forms strategic partnership with Reliance Jio

This will entail integration of products and strong synergies in user engagement and distribution in a future-ready ecosystem that will benefit over 450 million users

Zupee, India's largest skill-based casual gaming company, said it has formed a first-of-its-kind strategic partnership with Reliance’s Jio Platforms Limited. This will entail the integration of products and strong synergies in user engagement and distribution in a future-ready ecosystem that will benefit over 450 million users. With this new synergy, the aim is to build an ecosystem that will facilitate faster and more efficient development and distribution of products and services that will benefit Zupee customers. Jio users will be provided access to Zupee’s rich repertoire of online skill-based games as well as other innovative products that Zupee develops.

With the new partnership in place, emphasis will be on rolling out more quality games in multiple languages to as many users as possible with the ambition of making Zupee the biggest gaming platform in India connecting India with Bharat. Over 150 million 5G handsets are expected to be sold before the commercial launch of 5G in India, and Zupee is aggressively looking to capture as much of the market as possible with this partnership with Jio.

“Jio is the perfect partner for this journey as we look to penetrate the remotest areas of India all the way to the most disadvantaged people to bring them into the fold,” said Dilsher Singh, founder and CEO, Zupee.  “This resonates firmly with our idea of the internet of the future which would be open, permissionless, decentralized and limitless.”

Singh said Indian smartphone exports are expected to increase from $3.6 billion in 2020-21 to $55 billion in 2025-26 which is a 15x growth. “As a home-grown start-up, we want to put Indian products and games on all those devices that can take the India story to the world,” said Singh. “We will do this while continuing to make games that entertain and put smiles on the faces of millions of people around the world.”

Zupee will also benefit from the reach Jio currently has. Zupee games will be distributed to all the Jio customers. It will also be made available to Jio Phone customers. This will give Zupee the biggest reach of all gaming companies in India catapulting the fastest growing gaming start-up into the biggest gaming company in the country.

Zupee recently completed a $102-million Series B funding round, with an extension of $30 million that was already raised. The round saw participation from marquee investors such as WestCap Group, Tomales Bay Capital, Nepean Capital, AJ Capital, Matrix Partners India and Orios Venture Partners. This takes the total funds raised by Zupee to $121 million at a $600 million valuation. Zupee has over 70 million downloads in India and the new capital raise will help it grow its reach significantly.

The funds will be used for developing new products, enhancing immersive design experiences, expanding into new geographies and hiring top talent. In 2022, Zupee said it will continue to develop new forms of purposeful entertainment that can engage, empower and entertain the users. The gaming start-up is known for taking time-tested, popular games and reengineering them for mobile devices by making them competitive, engaging and entertaining. The user-centric, language-agnostic approach has meant that the games are popular with people across geographies and demographics.