Our monetization model is based on platform usage fee, sponsorships, advertisements, ticketing & media rights: EsportsXo

Utsav Umang and Rohit Raj, the founders of EsportsXo, an esports talent & tournament management-company which specialises in providing 1st of its kind automated gaming solutions to Indian gamers and enthusiasts. Utsav Umang, 20, is the CEO of the company, responsible for spearheading the overall operations whereas 25-year-old Rohit Raj is the COO of Esportsxo, primarily responsible for technology-related aspects of the platform. In an interview with BW Businessworld, they talk about the company, challenges and more.

Brief us about your business model like how did the idea came to start and how does it work?

We are a Bengaluru-based Esports tournament and talent management company. We are basically a product-based entity, offering a wide array of tech-based and Community-based solutions for the different needs of the e-sporting fraternity in the country. EsportsXo was launched in 2020 with a vision to create the biggest virtual community of console, PC as well as mobile gamers from different parts of the world. It is a one-stop destination for professional players, gaming enthusiasts, brands as well as content creators to come together through tournament and weekly scrims.

What are the unique key points of your company?

The factors that make us unique are that we offer complete automated solutions to tournament organisers as well as players. For instance, our latest offering BattleXo is the first-ever fully automated one-stop destination for Indian gamers and tournament organizers. Our platform is designed to manage multiplayer gaming tournaments. On this platform, the tournament organizers do not need to manually feed in the data pertaining to gamers and tournament results. As the tournament proceeds, every participant will automatically be elevated to the next level as per the rules of the game. We intend to bring gaming concepts to reality with our gaming properties and content.

We also have an in-house studio and creative teams to ensure quality production in the fastest possible turnaround time, which lacks in case of other similar players even globally.

What is the funding status and monetization model?

We started with seed funding from friends and family. Our monetization model is based on platform usage fee, sponsorships, advertisements, ticketing and media rights.

What challenges are you facing in running your business?

The foremost challenge that we are facing is the lack of awareness towards esports in India. It is still in its nascent stage and a lot of headway is yet to be made in this regard. Another challenge is reaching out to the right gamers, who might be extremely skilled yet fail to make it big in the absence of a conducive platform. We aspire to provide them with the stage and opportunity to further hone their skills and make it big in the domain.

Asian Games is now set to have esports as a medal event. What are your views?

It is a very welcome move for esports enthusiasts and gamers from India as well as other parts of the continent. The move comes as a big boost for talented individuals, who are currently confined to being popular faces on social media and web platforms like YouTube.

How has been the people's response been so far?

We have received an overwhelming response from the esporting community from across different parts of the country. For example, we recently brought on board some of India's most popular skill-based gamers such as Badge99, Nonstop Gaming, Casual Gaming and Gamerfleet.

What are the traction details (like users, app downloads & other achievements of the company)?

We have consistently registered more than 250 million views per month. Besides, we already have 100k registered users and 10+ clients.

What are your new products lined up? How they will impact the industry?

We have a slew of products lined up for launch. To start with, as mentioned earlier, we have launched BattleXO, which is a one-of-its-kind tournament hub for Indian gamers and tournament organisation. We are also slated to soon launch XoSpace, which is a 10,000 sq ft residential gaming house in a posh locality in Bengaluru. Selected gamers can stay there amid state of the art infrastructure and world class content production support to showcase their gaming and streaming talent.

How do you look at expansion?

We are already in talks with some big players in the domain with regard to investment. However, we are concentrating on expanding our product range, so that Indian gaming community is not deprived of the best innovations in the segment.

What are your marketing plans?

One of the core strengths we have is our deep connect with community which is helping us to get acceptance. Also through our rostered gaming creators it is easier for us to reach out to over 250 million audience monthly with a steady growth of 20% per months.

Our focus is using influencer marketing, social media and direct digital marketing to get more users. Also equally important is the retention of the users and keeping them engaged. We are working on community and retention tools on the platform to get returning audience.

What is the current size of eSports in India? How much you intend to capture?

The esports audience in India has grown considerably over the past few years. According to a study, it is growing at a CAGR of over 120%. With regard to the opportunity, we would reiterate that much headway still needs to be made in the domain as we are in its nascent stage. Unlike other players, we are taking the innovation route by providing tech-based comprehensive solutions to varied gaming needs, and hence, there's no qualm is saying that we have the scope of covering a large ground.