“We are focused on creating games for the Indian market, but part of our business is to bring global games to India. Having someone internal in China will be useful in developing strategic partnerships, besides guidance on market growth,” said Arpita Kapoor, cofounder of Mech Mocha.
The Bengaluru-based startup plans to bring Chinese mobile games into the Indian market over time.In January that Shunwei Capital, started by Xiaomi founder Lei Jun, would make its debut investment in India and was in talks to pick up a stake in the gaming startup along with Accel Partners. The company plans to launch at least two games in 2017, specifically catering to the Indian market. Its first game, Chhota Bheem – Himalayan Game, has nearly one million monthly active users.
“With Chhota Bheem, we were focusing on children, but with our new games this year we will look at individuals over the age of 22, those who are college-going or young working professionals,” Kapoor said.
“We will even target gamers over the age of 30 and, by early 2018, we will look to create women centric games for housewives, teenagers and so on.”
Mech Mocha is exploring partnerships with global gaming companies to release their gaming titles in India. It is planning to leverage its Indian market insights and in-house technology platform to culturally orient narratives and customise gameplay for an Indian audience. It will deploy funds towards creating an integrated technology platform with capabilities in behavioural analytics and multiplayer options, among other aspects.
“The Indian mobile gaming sector is growing at a fast pace and holds great opportunity. We hope to share our experience in China and use it to create new opportunities for Mech Mocha in India,” said Tuck Lye Koh, founding partner of Shunwei Capital.
In December 2015, the startup raised $1 million in a seed round led by Blume Ventures and Flipkart. The mobile gaming company was founded by IIIT Gwalior graduates Arpita Kapoor, Mohit Rangaraju and Shilp Gupta.
Source: Economic Times