Epic Games investor and co-chairman of Bain Capital invests in Indian gaming startup WinZO

• WinZO has secured funding from Stephan Pagliuca, co-chairman of private equity firm Bain Capital.
• Pagliuca is also the co-owner of the NBA Basketball team, Boston Celtics, and is an investor in the American gaming company and Fortnite maker – Epic Games.
• Earlier in September, WinZO had raised $18 million from top global VCs – Singapore’s Makers Fund and New York-based Courtside Ventures.

Indian gaming startup WinZO has secured funding from Stephan Pagliuca, co-chairman of private equity firm Bain Capital in a mix of primary and secondary investment. Pagliuca is also the co-owner of the NBA Basketball team, Boston Celtics, and is an investor in the American gaming company and Fortnite maker – Epic Games.

WinZO is Pagliuca’s first investment in India. A part of the investment ($1 million) was made through a secondary transaction, this after WinZO carried out its first ESOPs buy-out worth $1 million of its early investors and employees.

“We are thrilled to be backed by Steve, an investor of high repute in our growth journey. The kind of confidence exhibited by industry experts from across the globe is a testament to the scalable, sustainable and robust business we have built in a very short span of time. It's soul satisfying to be able to generate value through ESOP buyout for our early employees too. This is just the beginning of an exciting journey towards solving social entertainment for Bharat.” said Saumya Singh Rathore, co-founder, WinZO in a statement.

Earlier in September, WinZO had raised $18 million from top global VCs – Singapore’s Makers Fund and New York-based Courtside Ventures, both of whom are pioneers in gaming investments.

WinZO has grown rapidly in the last year and saw a boost after the popular Chinese gaming app PubG was banned in India.

WinZO’s statistics

During an interview with Business Insider in September 2020, WinZO’s co-founder Paavan Nanda had said that they had grown 15 times over the last 12 months, and since the pandemic began, they have been doubling every two months.


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