A joint venture of Alibaba-controlled Indian mobile payments company Paytm and Hong Kong-based AGTech Holdings Ltd is launching Gamepind, a gaming and e-commerce platform in India.
Alibaba is eyeing flourishing mobile gaming market in India that is estimated to grow up to 1.17 billion US dollars by the end of this year.
Gamepind is likely to offer an array of social, casual and sports games to Indian consumers that are rapidly switching over to the smartphone in the last few years. At present, India is the second fastest growing market for smartphones.
Paytm founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma pointed out India’s young consumers are experimenting and discovering more entertainment options on the mobile.
“Gaming is, therefore, growing in the country and becoming big with mobile users. AGTech’s expertise and experience in global gaming market will help us accelerate our plans in gaming and bring exciting content to our users,” he said.
AGTech Holdings and Paytm had signed the joint venture in July last year. AGTech Media owns 45 percent of the joint venture, and Paytm has the rest. One97 had invested 8.8 million US dollars in the enterprise and AGTech Holdings contributed 7.2 million dollars as part of it’s for its 45 percent stake.
John Sun, chairman of AGTech, said in the statement said, we are excited to partner with Paytm to localize this unique platform for its 300 million and growing registered customer base by combining Paytm’s local resources and our expertise in gaming and other user engagement activities.
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“As a member of Alibaba Group and Ant Financial Group, we have been active in looking for international expansion opportunities capitalizing on the vibrant ecosystems of Alibaba Group and Ant Financial Group,” Sun added.
Last month, Beijing based urban mobility giant ofo in partnership with Paytm launched dockless cycles services in six cities of India. ofo is operating in more than 250 cities across 20 countries.
