Digital entertainment and technology firm JetSynthesys has announced the launching of a gaming startup, Jetapult, which will acquire gaming studios across India and other regions in an invest & operate (I&O) model. The company intended to invest up to $100 million towards these acquisitions over the next 9-12 months, reported Economic Times. The new venture has already acquired one studio and is in talks to acquire a second one, said Rajan Navani, MD of JeySynthesys. Jetapult will be led by Sharan Tulsiani, whose previous experience includes leading Gaming at Google Play Asia – India and ANZ markets, along with their Indie Games Accelerator (IGA).
“There are several talented gaming studios with great ideas who can truly scale themselves with the right mentorship and funding. Recognizing this market need, we decided to launch Jetapult on the back of JetSynthesys’ very successful model of acquiring and rapidly scaling gaming studios using global expertise and world-class partnerships,” Navani said.
Jetapult will focus on acquiring and scaling revenue-generating Indie game development studios across emerging markets like India, South-East Asia, the Middle East, South America as well as Australia, and New Zealand. In February, PUBG maker Krafton invested $5.4 million in the JetSynthesys-owned Nautilus Mobile, a mobile game development studio based in Pune.
Jetapult will be led by Sharan Tulsiani, whose previous experience includes leading Gaming at Google Play Asia – India and ANZ markets, along with their renowned Indie Games Accelerator (IGA). Apart from Tulsiani, Jetapult’s team also features Yash Baid and Mangesh Anaokar. While Yash was previously Principal and Head of Research at 3one4 Capital and Partner at 256 Network, Mangesh has extensive M&A and investments experience having led investments & portfolio management at Bennett, Coleman and Co.
The team is further bolstered by veteran industry experts and advisors like Ryo Shima (ex-COO GREE), James Cho (ex- Blizzard, Bethesda, Zynga) along with Angelo Lobo, (Ex-Director, Zynga), Dennis Sullivan (Ex-Wargaming) and Hyunsu Bang (Ex-GREE).
Speaking about the launch of Jetapult, Rajan Navani, said, “Over the years, we have seen the gaming industry pick up steam, and the road ahead looks brighter than ever. There are several talented gaming studios with great ideas who can truly scale themselves with the right mentorship and funding. Recognizing this market need, we decided to launch Jetapult on the back of JetSynthesys’ very successful model of acquiring and rapidly scaling gaming studios using global expertise and world-class partnerships.”
“With the three-pronged approach of Acquire, Invest, Accelerate, Jetapult is all ready to come out of stealth now, having already made one crucial acquisition. Built on the Invest and Operate (I&O) model, we believe Jetapult will be a ‘game’-changer in the industry. With an expert team that has a collective experience spanning decades, the start-up will strengthen Indian gaming’s position on the global map further,” Navani added.
Sharan Tulsiani, said, “Building high grossing hits in the gaming industry are often misrepresented to be luck-based, coin-flip endeavours. This cannot be further from the truth. Making games is a passionately creative endeavour, but scaling them intrinsically is a scientific one.”
