Adman Sajan Raj Kurup invests in gaming startup Revenant Esports

Ventureland Asia, the invest division of ad firm Creativeland Asia run by Sajan Raj Kurup, has invested $1 million in gaming startup Revenant Esports. With this investment, Kurup has become a 40% stakeholder in the gaming company founded in 2020.

"Esports gaming is booming in India, especially in the current times when indoor gaming has picked up significantly. Revenant Esports has been set up by Rohit Naresh, an avid gamer who comes from a business background and I believe it is a good combination to build a gaming company in India. Our focus will be on getting more players on the platform, build IPs, stage tournaments on television and capture the growing tier-II markets. The goal is to build Revenant into a Rs150-crore company in the next 18 months," said Kurup.

Revenant Esports is a platform for gamers (casual, pro and aspiring) and content creators. The startup has over 25 known esports athletes who play across popular gaming titles such as Call of Duty Mobile: Multiplayer, Call of Duty Mobile: Battle Royale, Clash of Clans and FreeFire. The platform claims to have 15,000 active gamers and 20,000 hours (generated in the last two months) of watch time through their content creator network, tournaments and athletes; the company aims to grow further in the next 18 months.

Rohit Naresh Jagasia, founder and chief executive officer, Revenant Esports, said, “We aim to grow aggressively in competitive esports, virtual/offline events and content. We will soon be launching an esports tournament management platform. We are also in talks with TV broadcasters about telecasting esports tournaments along with building more brand partnerships."

Esports, which takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions that are streamed online, has been booming in India. According to a Venture Intelligence report, since April 2020, venture capital funds have invested $438 million in Indian gaming start-ups.

According to industry estimates, viewership of esports in India doubled to 17 million in 2020 while the prize money pool grew 25-30%. The format has also been recognized globally, with the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) including esports as a medal sport for the first time at Asian Games 2022.