Matrix-backed Zupee raises $10M, strengthening its position as a leading skill-based gaming platform

11th January 2021. New Delhi: Zupee, a leading skill-based mobile gaming platform in India, has raised additional capital of $10M, with a total of $19M raised to date. This latest round is led by WestCap Group ("WestCap'), a leading US growth equity firm, with participation from existing investor Matrix Partners India.

This is the second round of funding successfully secured by Zupee within the last 12 months - with $8M raised in April 2020. This new capital will go towards further scaling up the venture, expanding market reach, enhancing user penetration for Zupee's platform, and focusing on delivering an exceptional and truly rewarding user experience.

Founded in 2018 by IIT-Kanpur graduates, Dilsher Singh Malhi and Siddhant Saurabh, Zupee enables users to play live quiz tournaments on their smartphone devices. Running 24x7, Zupee Gold has over 2000+ live quizzes covering a broad range of topics from spellings, movies, slang and general interest topics. With the ease of use, an exceptional UI and a low entry barrier, Zupee believes in connecting the hearts and minds of its users through social skill-based gaming.

India leads the world in mobile game downloads with more than 5 billion downloads in 2019. The online gaming market is growing at 40% annually and is expected to reach $14 billion in India by 2025. Zupee is proud to have been founded in India with a multicultural and inclusive team, with a global ethos.

"We have driven exponential month-on-month growth this year. This fresh round of funding enables us to double down on our scaling efforts. We remain committed to delivering a fantastic user experience for our rapidly expanding user community. Bringing joy and making each moment count is what truly propels us forward in doing our bit towards bringing the next Billion online- solving for connectivity, local language content, culture and keeping the internet a place for productive engagement', said Dilsher Singh, Founder and CEO of Zupee.

"Zupee is delivering a product that delights mobile users in India,' said Dan Fischer, WestCap. "Zupee provides fun and fair competition that connects people in a meaningful way and its industry-leading growth is a testament to the team's vision. We are excited to partner with Dilsher and the entire Zupee team as they continue to rapidly scale.'

"India continues to be one of the largest markets for mobile gaming in the world, we believe that Zupee is positioned well to become the market leader in the skill-based gaming space. '‹We are delighted to partner with them and have a ringside view of their astonishing growth journey. They have shown great maturity and sagacity in their approach towards business and we feel thrilled to see them making great strides especially in a post covid world where they have emerged even stronger, more relevant and truly resilient,' said '‹'‹Harish Bahl Founder and Chairman of Smile Group'‹.

Tarun Davda, Managing Director, Matrix India, added "2020 witnessed online gaming truly explode in India, and Zupee's accelerated growth during the year is a clear testament to this surge. We're privileged to have partnered early with Dilsher and the team and look forward to the next phase of the journey.'

About Zupee.com:
Zupee is a skill-based gaming app where you can play live quiz tournaments with friends, local communities & other players. The platform places mission-like importance on bringing positive and engaging experiences to its users. '‹Relying on knowledge across a host of topics, strong returns, high user engagement, and sound tech, Zupee has been winning hearts and minds in a game of skill. For more information, please visit:'‹ '‹'‹www.zupee.com

About Matrix Partners India:
Matrix Partners India is an investment firm with approximately $1 billion under management. Founded in 2006, the firm invests in companies targeting the Indian consumer and enterprise market at the seed, early and early growth stages. Matrix India has invested in several market leading companies such as Ola (mobility), Practo (digital health platform), Dailyhunt (mobile local language platform), Mswipe (mobile POS), Five Star Business Finance (SME lending), OfBusiness (credit led B2B marketplace), Ola Electric (electric vehicles), Razorpay (payments), Stanza Living (tech enabled student housing platform), Country Delight (India's largest direct-to-home food essentials brand), OneCard (mobile-first credit card), and Cloudnine Hospitals (leading chain of maternity hospitals) among others. Matrix India has advisory offices in Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai. Matrix Partners has a global network of funds investing in the US, China and India, with approximately $5 billion under management. Further information is available at www.matrixpartners.in. To know more about our investment philosophy & ideologies, check out the #MatrixMoments podcast series.