A girl born in a small town in Uttar Pradesh, dreamed big instead of settling for what life had thrown at her. Her vision for building a business empire took a unique turn, different from the conventional paths most people follow. Her name is Saumya Singh Rathore. With her innovative thinking and fresh approach, she revolutionized the world of social gaming in India. Her remarkable achievements have garnered attention, earning endorsements from none other than MS Dhoni and Bobby Deol.
Curiosity Takes Flight
Born in 1988, Saumya Singh Rathore is a psychology post-graduate from The University of Manchester and is a psychologist with the British Psychological Society. Beginning her career at KPMG, Saumya has extensively worked across print, radio, and television on strategic matters of the companies specifically relating to driving growth and overseeing execution during her stint in the Times Group. After a six-year corporate career, she took the big decision to step out of her comfort zone and start some unusual and big.
In January 2015, Saumya joined early-stage backpacker travel startup ZO Rooms as the head of the core team. She led the brand, growth and expansion, but the journey came to a halt after the Oyo-ZO controversy in February 2016. Despite this, Saumya’s desire to do something new did not end.
Saumya was among the founding team members of Zo Rooms and Zostel, a hospitality startup which was backed by Tiger Global. In 2018, Paavan, an IIM alumnus, and Saumya decided to build a vernacular gaming platform and founded WinZO.
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WinZO
It was Saumya’s first time founding a venture, but she and her team cracked a significant code in the Indian gaming industry, building a business that promised profitability. The realization was simple—there was no gaming platform catering to smaller cities. This insight drove Saumya to create a platform that could bring gaming experiences to major cities and beyond. Endorsed by MS Dhoni, WinZO has now become a prominent brand. The platform offers over 100 games in six formats and is available in 12 languages, including English, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, Bengali, and Bhojpuri.
In 2017, the number of game development companies in India had surged from just 25 in 2010 to 250, but no platform had emerged to engage audiences from tier-2 and tier-3 cities. Saumya saw this gap as a golden opportunity. Together with her colleague Paavan from ZO, they launched a new venture—WinZO.
The concept behind WinZO was simple, but its implementation came with challenges. Saumya introduced an innovative business model where users could play real-time multiplayer games and win prizes by paying a small fee, ranging from Rs 2 to Rs 25. To infuse a local flavor, she included 25 regional languages and games like cricket, carrom, and fruit smash. This approach proved successful, and WinZO quickly gained traction.
WinZO’s Rapid Growth
Within just one year, WinZO’s user base grew to 50 lakh. People spent an average of 55 minutes daily on the app, and their daily deposits doubled every month. Impressively, 20% of these users made digital transactions for the first time. In May 2018, WinZO secured Rs 3.3 crore in funding from Kalaari Capital.
By 2019, WinZO had reached 2 crore users, processed 200 crore in monthly transactions, and achieved 1 billion gameplays. In February 2019, the company raised an additional Rs 35.4 crore in funding. WinZO also formed partnerships with 50 indie game developers and studios to host their games on the platform.
