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Microsoft did coversation to invest in Indian popolar Gaming Platform Zupee(Play to earn) recently and put forward to reasonably lead a funding round near about $100 Millions, two people familiar with the matter revealed the latest in a series of bets from the cloud services giant to expand its business in the key overseas market.
The two firms has not done an agreement and there is a few reasonable chance the deal will not happen, the people said. A team within Microsoft has expressed apprehension about optics around betting and advised the global tech giant to steer away from the deal, a person briefed on the details said.
Zupee declined to comment. Microsoft did not reply to a request for comment late last month. Like many other startups Including Oyo in which Microsoft has invested in India, the Zupee deal sought to have the startup use Azure and other Microsoft cloud services as part of the deal, two people familiar with the matter revealed.
The New Delhi-headquartered Zupee — which has raised about$120 million to date, including about $100 million in its Series B round that it closed in January this year — operates what it describes as a “skill-based casual gaming” platform. The firm, which was last valued at $600 million, has claimed over 70 million downloads across board games such as ludo, snakes and ladder, and playing cards and carrom.
In January, it formed 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 two firms will work to build an “ecosystem that will progress faster and more well organised development and distribution of products and services,” Zupee reported in a press release earlier.