Newgen Gaming raises $1M for Penta Esports brand

Newgen Gaming has raised $1 million to continue to operate its Penta Esports brand. This is the first funding round for Newgen Gaming.

The company was founded in 2021 by industry veterans Anurag Khurana, Kiran Noojibail, Akshay Paul and Krishanu Ghosal. Its esports brand, Penta Esports, specializes in multiple verticals including leagues, tournaments and content.

With a focus on the grassroots esports ecosystem of India, the brand enables esports athletes with opportunities across titles and platforms. NCore Games led the round.

“We started Newgen Gaming with an objective to democratize gaming and esports in India,” said Newgen Gaming CEO Anurag Khurana, in a statement. “We will be scaling up rapidly and providing more opportunities to the players and experiences to the viewers across the region. We’re excited to have raised this round from nCore Games. Vishal and I always had a collective vision to bring growth to the gaming industry. This collaboration will be our first big step together.”

Since its inception, Penta Esports has launched its grassroots-focused league called the Penta Amateur League and the Penta Collegiate League for colleges and universities, alongside other tournament IPs like the Penta Invitational, Penta Cup, and Penta Challenge.

The company’s latest property, the Penta Pro Series, was an official Valorant Off Season event, with participation from the best teams across regions. Additionally, the brand also has multiple content IPs and plans to launch more.

Newgen Gaming will use the money to accelerate the growth of the company’s offerings and to expand its team and operations across South Asia and MENA regions.

NCore Games (which the company spells nCore) is an Indian mobile game company and it has also invested in Studio NCore, IceSpice and Dot9 Games. The company’s investors include Galaxy Interactive and Animoca Brands.

Through this investment, NCore Games will gain access to a strong network of esports athletes and fans, as well as unique and strong content intellectual properties, like Esports in 5, 1v1, Koffee with Kiran and more. Penta Esports will be able to capitalise on its strong growth and momentum with this infusion of capital.

“This strategic investment will mark our foray into esports and we’re thrilled to have Newgen Gaming, an established leader in that segment, as our partner,” said Kaval Bombra, CEO of NCore Global, in a statement. “We believe the team’s collective experience and vision has it poised for enormous growth and provides the right synergy for NCore as it works to establish a comprehensive gaming ecosystem.”

“As we set out to build a full-stack gaming ecosystem, we believe Newgen Gaming will be an integral part,” said NCore Games cofounder Vishal Gondal, in a statement. “Esports event management and fan engagement are set to become key growth drivers for the industry, and we look forward to tapping into Newgen Gaming’s expertise in this area as we build out India’s No. 1 gaming platform.”