Flipkart buys India mobile gaming start-up Mech Mocha

The size of the transaction was not disclosed. Flipkart said it had acquired intellectual property from Mech Mocha as part of a deal that includes the company’s in-house gaming team. Digital content such as video and games have become integral to customer engagement in e-commerce, especially as channels through which to cultivate first-time users.

“We see a strong correlation between casual gamers becoming early shoppers on Flipkart for their digital journey. Through this transaction, we will strengthen our capabilities in the gaming domain with access to Mech Mocha's IP, games and talented team that will help us accelerate our efforts in this space,” Prakash Sikaria, a vice president at Flipkart, said in a statement.

The e-commerce giant already operates Flipkart GameZone, which offers a range of online games and quizzes with prizes such as electronics accessories and gift vouchers awarded to winners.

Mech Mocha runs Hello Play, India's first live-social gaming platform. It is available in seven local Indian languages and has more than 10 games, including popular multiplayer titles based on ludo, carrom, snakes and ladders, and cricket. The company was founded in 2014 by Arpita Kapoor and Mohit Rangaraju.

Blume and Flipkart provided $1 million in seed funding in 2015. This was followed in 2017 by a $5 million Series A round led by Accel and Shunwei. Blume also took part. According to AVCJ Research, Mech Mocha raised a $10 million Series B a year later from its existing investors as well as South Korea’s Neoplux Capital and AET Fund, a vehicle backed by Japanese gaming company Akatsuki.

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• Topics
• South Asia
• Trade sale
• Technology
• India
• TMT
• Flipkart
• Blume Ventures
• Accel Partners
• Shunwei Capital Partners