Microsoft explores funding in Indian gaming platform Zupee • TechCrunch

Microsoft has held conversations to put money into the Indian play-to-earn gaming platform Zupee in current weeks and proposed to steer a spherical of over $100 million, two individuals conversant in the matter advised TechCrunch, the most recent in a collection of bets from the Home windows-maker to develop its cloud enterprise in the important thing abroad market.

The 2 companies haven’t reached an settlement and there’s a affordable likelihood the deal is not going to materialize, the sources mentioned. A crew inside Microsoft has expressed apprehension about optics round betting and suggested the worldwide tech large to steer away from the deal, an individual briefed on the small print mentioned.

Zupee declined to remark. Microsoft didn’t reply to a request for remark late final month. Like many different startups together with Oyo wherein Microsoft has invested in India, the Zupee deal sought to have the startup use Azure and different Microsoft cloud companies as a part of the deal, two individuals conversant in the matter mentioned.

The New Delhi-headquartered Zupee — which has raised over $120 million to this point, together with about $100 million in its Sequence B spherical that it closed in January this 12 months — operates what it describes as a “skill-based informal gaming” platform. The agency, which was final valued at $600 million, has garnered over 70 million downloads throughout over a dozen video games together with with themes round cricket, soccer, chess, rummy and board titles.

In January, it shaped what it described as a “first-of-its-kind strategic” partnership with Jio Platforms, India’s largest telecom operator with over 420 million subscribers. The 2 companies will work to construct an “ecosystem that may facilitate sooner and extra environment friendly improvement and distribution of services and products,” Zupee mentioned in a press launch earlier.