One of India's best-known industrialists is backing a bet that competitive gaming can follow the path of cricket's Indian Premier League, turning a niche pastime into a franchise-based entertainment property with teams, fans and sponsors.
Let's Game Now, a Bengaluru-based gaming and esports company, has raised ₹30 crore in a funding round co-led by Anand Mahindra, chairman of the Mahindra Group, and Bestvantage Investments, according to Inc42 on Friday, October 30. An undisclosed UAE-based family office also participated.
The company was founded in 2018 by Santanu Basu. The stage of the funding round was not disclosed.
Building the Indian Super Gaming League
The funding will be used to accelerate the development of the Indian Super Gaming League (ISGL), which Let's Game Now describes as a gaming and entertainment property. ISGL is designed as a franchise-based league combining competitive gaming, sports, entertainment and technology.
"The funding will be used to accelerate the development of the Indian Super Gaming League (ISGL)," the company said, according to Inc42.
Rather than relying only on individual tournaments, the league model aims to build a recurring property around teams, players and fans. This mirrors the structure of franchise sports leagues, which have proven highly successful in India with the IPL, the Pro Kabaddi League and other competitions.
Details including the launch timeline, franchise structure, expected revenue and monetisation strategy have not been disclosed.
An existing community
Let's Game Now says its platform has a community of more than 1.4 million members and has organised more than 2,000 events, according to Inc42. That base gives the company an audience to build on as it develops the league.
Why Anand Mahindra's backing matters
Anand Mahindra is one of India's most prominent business leaders and has a significant public profile, including a large social media following. His involvement brings credibility and visibility to the venture, which could help attract sponsors, franchise owners and broadcasters.
The Mahindra Group has long been associated with sport, notably motorsport, where Mahindra Racing competes in Formula E, the electric racing championship.
The real-money gaming ban
The funding comes against the backdrop of a major shift in India's gaming industry. In 2025, the government banned real-money online gaming, prohibiting games in which players stake money in the hope of winning cash prizes. The ban affected some of India's largest gaming companies, which had built businesses around fantasy sports, rummy and poker.
The ban pushed many gaming startups and investors towards esports and other forms of gaming that do not involve wagering. The government has signalled support for esports as a legitimate competitive activity, distinguishing it from gambling.
India's esports opportunity
India has one of the world's largest populations of gamers, driven by cheap smartphones, affordable mobile data and a young population. Mobile games such as Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) and Free Fire have large competitive followings, and esports tournaments attract millions of viewers on streaming platforms.
However, monetising esports has proven challenging globally. Many esports leagues and teams have struggled to achieve profitability, relying heavily on sponsorship and investor funding. Revenue from media rights, ticket sales and merchandise has generally been smaller than in traditional sports.
The franchise model's challenges
The commercial viability of ISGL will depend on attracting franchise owners, sponsors, broadcasters and a consistent audience, according to Inc42. Franchise leagues require significant investment in production, marketing and player development before they can generate meaningful revenue.
Success in India will also depend on choosing the right games, building star players with whom fans can identify and creating compelling content for audiences who may watch on mobile phones.
Lessons from cricket
The IPL's success offers lessons. It combined top players, team loyalty based on cities, celebrity owners, prime-time scheduling and massive broadcast deals. Kabaddi's revival through the Pro Kabaddi League showed that a franchise format could also create a popular product from a traditional sport with limited commercial history.
Applying these lessons to gaming is ambitious but not unprecedented. Globally, franchise esports leagues have been tried with mixed results, and Indian organisers can learn from both successes and failures abroad.
The UAE connection
The participation of a UAE-based family office reflects the growing interest of Gulf investors in Indian startups and in gaming. The UAE and Saudi Arabia have made large investments in gaming and esports as part of efforts to diversify their economies, and Saudi Arabia hosts the Esports World Cup.
Esports in India's sports policy
India's government has moved to recognise esports as a legitimate competitive activity, distinct from gambling. The new online gaming law draws a clear line between real-money games, which are banned, and esports and social games, which are encouraged. Esports was included as a medal event at the Asian Games, and Indian players have competed internationally.
Government recognition can help esports attract sponsors, broadcasters and talent by giving the sector legitimacy. It may also open the door to support through sports development programmes and infrastructure.
The sponsorship market
Brands have shown growing interest in reaching young audiences through gaming and esports. Smartphone makers, energy drink companies, automotive brands and consumer electronics firms have sponsored esports tournaments and teams in India. A franchise league with established teams and regular schedules could offer sponsors more predictable visibility than one-off tournaments, which is a key part of the ISGL proposition.
Media rights could also become a source of revenue if the league attracts large audiences. Streaming platforms, including YouTube and others, are the primary channels for esports viewing in India.
A test for gaming investors
For investors in India's gaming sector, the ISGL will be an important test case. Many gaming companies have had to reinvent their business models after the real-money gaming ban, and successful esports properties could show a viable path forward for the industry and for the talent it employs.
What comes next
Let's Game Now will focus on building out the ISGL, including signing franchise partners, sponsors and broadcast or streaming partners. The progress of the league will be watched as a test of whether India's large gaming audience can be turned into a sustainable franchise-based entertainment business in the post-real-money-gaming era.
Gamers, sponsors and investors alike will be watching for announcements about the league's first season, its participating franchises and the games it chooses to feature, all of which will shape its appeal to India's large and young gaming audience in the months ahead.
