FK scales up gaming biz with latest buyout

Walmart-owned Flipkart has acquired mobile gaming startup Mech Mocha’s intellectual property assets for an undisclosed amount in an effort to scale up its gaming business.

The deal entails employees of Mech Mocha joining Flipkart, bolstering the online retailer’s plans to intensify focus on developing innovative gaming formats to engage with users on its GameZone platform.

Mobile gaming is considered an emerging medium to increase customer engagement on e-commerce platforms. Flipkart had backed Bengaluru-based Mech Mocha during its $1 million seed funding round in 2015.

The startup runs a vernacular social gaming platform, Hello Play, in seven Indian languages, and has over 10 products, including popular multi-player games such as ludo, carrom, snakes and ladder, and cricket. Mech Mocha was co-founded by Arpita Kapoor and Mohit Rangaraju in 2014, and counts Accel, Blume Ventures and Shunwei Capital as investors. The Mech Mocha team will focus on scaling Flipkart’s gaming efforts under Prakash Sikaria, vice-president, Flipkart. “…Our observations of Flipkart GameZone reflect this trend, as we see a strong correlation between casual gamers becoming early shoppers on Flipkart for their digital journey,” Sikaria said.