Why we invest
We built NODWIN from nothing, and we remember who backed us when it was hard. We invest to do that for other founders, and because we want a stake in the youth economy we work in every day.
Family office · India · Since 2014
Backing what young India does together.
Play. Watch. Eat out. Train. Learn. Shop.
Play the mixFilm made with Higgsfield
Track 00 · Intro
What is Good Game Investments?
Good Game Investments, also known as Good Game Ventures, is the family office of Akshat Rathee and Gautam Virk, the founders of NODWIN Gaming. We wrote our first cheque in 2014, when most people in India didn't yet take gaming seriously. We're founders who back founders, and we put our own money into the things young Indians spend their evenings and their money on.
Where we invest
Gaming, sports, AI and deep tech, retail, youth culture, hospitality and live experiences, mostly in India. We only invest once a company has revenue.
How long we stay
We usually stay for two rounds. We'll sell early if it helps a founder or brings in a better partner, and we'll buy a small slice of a founder's stake when other investors won't.
What we've backed
26 companies and 3 funds since 2014: a listed gaming company, regional audio and streaming, a dating app, cricket-bat sensors, convenience stores, restaurants and a maths tutor for schoolkids.
Track record
2014 First cheque
26 Companies backed
6 Exits
3 Funds we're an LP in
Tracklist
The Mix
Every company we've backed, in the order we backed them. Tap a track to see the founders and the latest news.
still held
gg exited
Stopped closed
LP fund we back
Vol. 1
2014 → 2019-
What they do
Payments and aggregation for international game publishers: wallets, cards, codes and in-app purchases.
Website ↗Founders
Gautam Virk, Akshat Rathee
Latest
Our first cheque.
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What they do
NODWIN's gaming merchandise and retail arm.
Founders
Started inside NODWIN Gaming
Latest
Spun out as part of the NODWIN and Nazara deal in 2018.
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What they do
Esports, gaming content and live events for young audiences, including Comic Con India. We hold a founder-level stake and have reinvested.
Website ↗Founders
Akshat Rathee, Gautam Virk
Latest
Aug 2026. Reported to be planning a raise of $100M to $200M ahead of an IPO, after turning EBITDA positive in FY26. Source ↗
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What they do
An esports platform that began as a place to play Counter-Strike and grew into a stats and tournament app.
Website ↗Founders
Prashant Prabhakar, Karan Mishra
Latest
Dream Sports took control in 2020. We sold our stake in 2022.
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What they do
A global early-stage fund for gaming and interactive media. Its portfolio includes Higgsfield, the AI studio we used to make the film at the top of this page.
Website ↗Partner
Jens Hilgers
Latest
We have been an LP since 2018.
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Founders
Viram Shah, Darwin Arifin
Latest
Still held.
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What they do
Live classes in music, comedy and other hobbies, taught by well-known artists.
Founders
Ishaan Preet Singh, Shubhadit Sharma, Mikhil Raj
Latest
Jul 2023. Shut down and returned the remaining capital to investors. Source ↗
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Founders
Snehil Khanor, Amit Gupta
Latest
We backed Snehil Khanor's relaunch of the company in 2019, and invested again in a later round.
Vol. 2
2020 → 2023-
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Founders
Apaksh Gupta, Jivesh Gupta
Latest
Still held.
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Vol. 3
2024 → 2026-
What they do
A rainforest-themed restaurant and bar on Golf Course Road, Gurugram.
Founders
Anurag Dania, Abhishek Mathur
Latest
Closed in 2026.
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What they do
India's first gaming and interactive media fund. We are an LP, and Lumikai also invests alongside us: it backed SwaVid and led Meta Fashion's pre-seed round in 2026.
Website ↗Partner
Salone Sehgal
Latest
We have been an LP since 2024.
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What they do
Holiday-home projects for Indian families.
Founders
In stealth
Latest
In stealth.
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What they do
A travel company for people working through their bucket lists.
Founders
In stealth
Latest
In stealth.
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What they do
An AI tutor for classes 6 to 10 that finds the maths and science a child missed in earlier years and teaches it again. We invested alongside Lumikai.
Website ↗Founders
Arjav Doshi, Preet Shah
Latest
Sep 2026. Went live for students in classes 6 to 10, ten months after the founders started on the idea. Source ↗
Side A
The hits
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NODWIN Gaming
2015 →The one we built ourselves. It turned a profit in FY26 and is raising money ahead of a planned IPO.
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SoStronk
2015 → 2022It started as a place to play Counter-Strike. Dream Sports took control in 2020, and we sold our stake in 2022.
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Nazara Technologies
2018 → 2025We held a pre-IPO stake for seven years, stayed through the listing and sold in 2025.
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STAGE
2019 →Streaming in Haryanvi, Rajasthani and Bhojpuri. Revenue grew six times in FY25, and we still hold.
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Kuku FM
2020 → 2025Regional audio looked niche when we invested in 2020. We sold in 2025, the year it raised an $85M Series C.
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STAN
2021 → 2024An esports and creator app. We sold our stake to Nazara in 2024.
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OnePlay
2025 → 2026Cloud gaming for people without a gaming PC. We were in and out within a year.
What worked
- We wait for revenue. A company that already sells something gives us a real number to help move, and it keeps us away from hype.
- Selling to strategic buyers has worked. Nazara and Dream Sports gave us exits at times when an IPO wasn't on the table.
- We buy part of a founder's stake when other investors won't. A founder with some money in the bank stays in the game longer.
- Our network helps. We introduce brands, publishers and event partners we know through NODWIN, and sometimes one of them becomes a company's first big customer.
Side B
The misses
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FrontRow
2019 → 2023Live classes taught by celebrities. It grew while people were stuck at home, and demand fell away once they went back out. The founders shut it in 2023 and returned the money that was left to investors.
What we learned
We bet on a lockdown habit. Now we ask what a product looks like after the moment that made it has passed.
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Congo
2024 → 2026A rainforest-themed restaurant in Gurugram, and a very large one, in a city where new places keep opening. It became the place big companies and call centres booked for a night out, and it shut in 2026.
What we learned
It was too big. People go back to places that feel small and offer something they can't get elsewhere, and large groups care more about cost per head than about how good the dinner is.
Long players
The funds we back as an LP
Some of the best founders we meet come to us through other funds, so we back a few of the people who back founders.
BITKRAFT Ventures
A global early-stage fund for gaming and interactive media. Its portfolio includes Higgsfield, the AI studio we used to make the film at the top of this page.
Lumikai
India's first gaming and interactive media fund. We are an LP, and Lumikai also invests alongside us: it backed SwaVid and led Meta Fashion's pre-seed round in 2026.
Centre Court Capital
A Mumbai fund for sports, sports tech, wellness and gaming. In 2024 it led the pre-Series A of Stupa, one of our companies.
Liner notes
Why we took those risks
In 2014, gaming in India meant cyber cafés and a handful of people who took it seriously. We were two of them. NODWIN started as a bet that young Indians would one day watch, play and pay for games the way the rest of the world did. That bet worked, and it shaped how we invest.
A lot of what we back looked early or odd to someone when we first talked about it: streaming in Haryanvi, sensors on cricket bats, a dating app for smaller cities, digital clothes for Roblox. We take these risks because we've watched what happens when a young audience finds something it likes. It usually grows faster than the spreadsheet said it would.
We try to keep the risks survivable. We wait for revenue, we write cheques we can afford to lose, and we usually stay for two rounds so a founder isn't raising alone. When something doesn't work, we say so and write down why. That's what Side B is for.
We aren't a fund with a deadline. It's our own money, so we can be patient with founders and quick to help them. Mostly, we like it when founders make money. That's the good game.
The band
Who picks the tracks
Akshat Rathee
Co-founder
I co-founded NODWIN Gaming with Gautam and run it as managing director. I began in management consulting at EY and have since started more than 20 companies across gaming, sports tech, clean energy and hospitality. At Good Game I invest in other founders and help them find revenue and raise their next round.
LinkedIn
Gautam Virk
Co-founder
I co-founded NODWIN Gaming with Akshat, and we set up Good Game together to back other founders with our own money. We wrote the first cheque in 2014.
LinkedIn
Abhishek Mathur
CEO
I run Good Game Investments day to day. I've spent fifteen years across law, finance and hospitality, and I co-founded Covah.
LinkedInSend us your demo.
We look at companies that already have revenue, in any of the sectors on this tape. Send a short deck, your latest numbers and what you'd do with the money.
queries@goodgame.ventures