WinZO Partners ISB Chandigarh for Gaming Talent Mentorship

Chandigarh, Sep 3 (PTI) Social gaming and interactive entertainment platform WinZO has launched its flagship talent mentorship programme -- Battle of Super Scholars -- in partnership with the management institute Indian School of Business in Chandigarh.

The initiative aims to mentor the nation's brightest minds, empowering them to drive India's leadership in tech innovation, boost IP export-led growth of the sector, and firmly place India among the top global gaming market, the firm said on Tuesday.

The global online gaming market has surpassed USD 300 billion with a user base exceeding 3.3 billion.

India, with approximately 600 million users, constitutes 20 per cent of this user base and accounts for 17 per cent of global gaming app downloads.

However, India's share of the global market remains disproportionately low. In closing the gap between its market share with its user base, India could potentially capture a USD 60 billion opportunity by 2034.

Currently, India's 1,400 gaming companies using sophisticated technologies like AI, blockchain and VR have generated over a lakh skilled jobs and have increased the sector's market size to USD 3 billion.

Through the Battle of Super Scholars (BOSS) programme, WinZO aims to inspire young product and tech talent to pursue entrepreneurship in gaming and solve the frontier challenges facing the sector.

In the process, India's gaming sector can become a USD 60 billion opportunity and increase employment by 20 times, resulting in the creation of over 2 million jobs.

BOSS -- which is cultivating and investing in India's talent as the country's best-in-class digital infrastructure and rich stories, combined with its talented workforce -- has the potential to make India the leading global gaming market by revenue share.

The company has also collaborated with over 100 game developers, enabling them to reach 200 million users, primarily non-English speakers who access the platform in over 14 languages, and to publish their games for international markets with WinZO's recent expansion to Brazil.

"At WinZO, we envision a future where India creates a globally competitive consumer tech company and exports Indian intellectual property to the international market. We believe that skilled talent capable of solving real-world challenges is essential for the growth of India's technology ecosystem to go global.

"The concept of WinZO BOSS was born from this belief. Through this platform, we aim to tap into and invest in the top talent from India's premier institutes early on, equipping them to tackle business challenges head-on," said WinZO co-founder Paavan Nanda.

The platform is available in 14 languages, such as English, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, Bengali, and Bhojpuri, with over 200 million registered users.