Sequoia and Lightspeed invest in $6m Seed round for IndiGG

IndiGG, the India subDAO of Yield Guild Games (YGG), has secured $6m in funding to foster the play-to earn movement in India. The round saw participation from Sequoia Capital India, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Jump Capital, Variant Fund, Dune Ventures, Griffin Gaming Partners, Transcend Fund, Animoca Brands, Play Ventures, Backed and Sfermion, IVC, Emfarsis and others.

Angels included Reddit Co-founder Alexis Ohanian, Alan Howard co-founder of Brevan Howard Asset Management and executives from the Indian gaming and entertainment industry, including Hungama, Nazara, WinZo, Hindustan Talkies and Mobile Premier League (MPL).

The funds including an additional $1m pre-seed led by YGG will be utilized by IndiGG to focus on several key areas to fuel platform growth and onboard Indian gamers to the web3 world of play-to-earn. As well as driving local education of the Play-to-earn movement, expanding the team, and organizing community events.

According to a November 2021 report by BCG and Sequoia Capital India, monetisation of the Indian gaming market is already in excess of $1.8b with more than 400 million people already playing online video games in the country with the industry set to triple in size by 2025.

"India is set to take a leadership role in establishing this new web3 frontier. We have the talent, capital and confidence to ensure that we are in the driver’s seat and games are the perfect vehicle to engage our next generation of talent," said Hemant Mohapatra Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners

IndiGG will soon support NFT assets for Axie infinity, Pegaxy, Fancy Birds, Nyan Heroes, Nitro League before onboarding new games for the Indian market. Polygon Studios and their thriving ecosystem of Web3 games — including Zed Run, Skyweaver by Horizon Games, Decentraland, and Decentral Games — will ensure IndiGG scholars continually have access to the latest releases.

“The play-to-earn guild model was first proven by YGG in the Philippines, our partnership with Polygon Studios will bring this life-changing model to one of the gaming communities in one of world’s largest emerging economies so they can reap the benefits of web3,” said Gabby Dizon, Co-founder of Yield Guild Games.

Play-to-earn games typically harness NFTs - blockchain-based digital assets needed by players to play these games. The introduction of these assets enables the tangible ownership of in-game items and helps build a sustainable economy from which players can earn. The guild will also provide scholarships for selected recipients, enabling them to rent out NFT assets owned by the guild to play games and start earning — lowering the barrier of entry for those who want to join the play-to-earn revolution.

"Through the Polygon ecosystem we've already seen traction in player-owned virtual economies and we know the quality of games in development. Our goal in partnering with YGG for IndiGG is to onboard 400m people to Web3 on the path to mass adoption," said Sandeep Nailwal, Co-founder, Polygon.

“Polygon and YGG coming together to address the gaming market in India is a big step for the Indian gaming ecosystem. Ownership of in-game assets will fundamentally alter the game economies and design dynamics. We want to leverage the power of this paradigm to ensure that the Indian gamers are a big part of the Web3 Gaming revolution.” added Siddhartha Jain, Advisor, IndiGG