Esports company Orangutan Gaming aims to clock gross revenue of Rs 10-15 crore by the end of FY23, Jai Shah, co-founder and head, revenue management, Orangutan, told BrandWagon Online. However, he declined to comment on the loss for the year. The company, which started its operations in May 2021, manages one Esports team for BGMI, Freefire, each besides two teams– men’s and women’s– playing Valorant. For Shah, the company is expected to end this fiscal with a 13 times rise in revenue as most of the sponsorship deals were finalised this year. “We are in talks with multiple brands for sponsorships, propelling our revenue growth trajectory to 100-150% year-on-year from next fiscal onwards. We expect to break-even by the end of FY23,” he added.
Currently, Orangutan Gaming has signed a one-year sponsorship deal with various companies including Rooter as its official streaming partner, Canadian gaming chair company Cybeart, Fanclash– official fantasy partner, and Sosyo Hajoori as their official beverage partner. Moreover, the company charges 10-25% commission fee from its players who post content on Rooter.
The company claims that its teams are among the top three teams in India in the respective games that it is present in– BGMI, FreeFire and Valorent. For instance, it has won the Free Fire India championship and was the second runner-up in the BGMI Master series which was telecasted on Star Sports.
While primarily an Esports company, Orangutan Gaming has also ventured into talent management in April. The company claims to handle five content creators from the Esports industry itself and is in the process of onboarding more clients. As per Shah, the company charges anywhere between 10-40% as commission depending on the creator’s popularity. “From a creator who has about five to 10 million followers, we charge a smaller commission as the deal value they get will be more as compared to a small creator who we have to help become big and amass followers,” he highlighted.
Furthermore, the company plans to open a digital shop on its website to tap into the apparels market. The shop, which is expected to roll out by November, will sell exclusive merchandise of its teams.
The company which so far has been bootstrapped claims to be in advance talks of raising its pre-seed funding. According to Shah, the capital raised in the upcoming funds will be diverted towards establishing its talent management and apparel business.
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