Mobile gaming firm Nazara Technologies acquires stake in Paper Boat Apps

This is the fifth acquisition by Westbridge Capital-backed firm

Mobile gaming firm Nazara Technologies has acquired a majority stake in Paper Boat Apps Pvt. Ltd, a Mumbai-based edutainment studio. Nazara has made a series of acquisitions across the globe.

In a statement, Nazara said it had acquired a 51 per cent stake in children-focused Paper Boat through an investment of Rs 83.5 crore ($11.66 million at current exchange rate). The pre-money valuation of the startup stood at Rs 154 crore, Nazara said in its statement.

Paper Boat develops and offers Kiddopia, a subscription-based edutainment app that offers several interactive games and activities that help in a child’s cognitive development, self-expression and social-emotional learning. It enjoys over one lakh active subscribers in US.

Nazara founder Nitish Mittersain said the company would help Kiddopia with its network of over 100 million users. “Kiddopia offers a positive alternative while bringing high-quality, curated educational content packaged within an entertaining framework that keeps kids healthy and parents happy,” he said.

Investment by Nazara would help the firm grow its team as well as strengthen its market share in the United States and expand to high-value markets like Japan and those in Europe and Latin America.

The WestBridge Capital-backed company has acquired several mobile gaming projects from emerging markets around the world, including India, West Asia and Latin America. It recently invested in NZWorld Kenya Ltd to help set up real-money gaming operations in Kenya.

In August, Nazara invested about Rs 44 crore to acquire 67 per cent stake in Sportskeeda, a sports media platform. It has also acquired a majority stake in Delhi-based SportsUnity, a gaming platform that operates online multiplayer quiz service Qunami. In May, the company invested in vernacular social contests platform Bakbuck, In March, Nazara was part of a Rs 40 crore Series A investment in fantasy sports startup HalaPlay Technologies.