Mister Gamer Trivikraman Thampy, Co-founder & Co-CEO, Games24x7

With the 'science of gaming' as its operating ethos, Games24x7's constant endeavor has been to develop a deep and rigorous understanding of the players. When asked how they do this, TrivikramanThampy, Co-founder & Co-CEO, Games24x7 says, "We do this first by living and breathing our players - by putting ourselves in their shoes. Then we dive deep into the gigabytes of data they generate on our platform using both basic analytics and complex data science methods. We do all of this with only one goal in mind - to deliver to our users a highly immersive and personalized gameplay experience." For them, using data science, machine learning, and technology to deliver highly engaging experiences that are hyper-personalized to the needs of every single player in a very diverse population is where the future lies. This thinking drives most of their investment today in product and technology innovation.

With its gaming solutions, Games 24*7 has entertained tens of millions of Indians responsibly. Today RummyCircle is India's largest online rummy platform and has maintained this dominant position for over a decade. My11Circle, the fantasy sports platform, despite being a late entrant, quickly rose to a distinct #2 position in a matter of four years.

Talking about running the business in an ever-dynamic business environment, Thampy states, "If you are not growing you are dying. We empower our teams to experiment fearlessly with new ideas and give them the freedom to fail. While results are important, real growth comes only when you uncover new insights. This approach has to lead to constant innovation on all fronts in our business, keeping us not just competitive but in fact in a leadership position in the industry."

Online gaming has been identified by the Government as a sunrise sector and one which has immense potential. However, the lack of a regulatory framework is a challenge for the industry. Despite clear jurisprudence, some states continue to mix up online skill gaming with gambling and as a result impose bans, which is in violation of the fundamental right to conduct business in the country. In the words of Thampy, "This sunrise sector can be a game-changer in a very real sense of the term with the right regulatory support to legitimate players. It can accelerate India's vision of becoming a $5 trillion economy and meaningfully contribute towards shaping India's next decade as 'techade'."

In any business, operating responsibly is crucial to ensuring profitability. Games24*7 has been financially disciplined right from the very start. "Within eighteen months of operations, we turned profitable. We have stayed consistent on this path by being rational with our investments and tracking our products' performance objectively," concludes Thampy.

With a strategy for diversifying skill gaming portfolio by building new games and making strategic acquisitions of platforms that have synergies with the business, they recently launched a corporate investment arm, Games24x7 Ventures, with an aim to support such start-ups, and give back to the ecosystem.

Tech Stack

• Year of inception - 2006
• No. of employees - 800
• Revenue for FY 2021-22 – (INR 11,825 million)
• Investors – Tiger Global, Raine Group, and Malabar Investment