Flipkart acquires gaming startup Mech Mocha's IP

Bengaluru: E-commerce marketplace Flipkart on Tuesday said it has strengthened its gaming strategy through the acquisition of Intellectual Property from Mech Mocha, a mobile gaming startup that runs live-social gaming platform "Hello Play".

In addition to the acquisition of the company's IP, Mech Mocha's gaming team will also join Flipkart.

Accessible in seven Indian languages, Mech Mocha's gaming platform has over 10 games including popular Indian multiplayer games such as ludo, carrom, snakes & ladder and cricket.

"With Vocal for Local being the focus for digital apps across the nation, this strategic backing of Flipkart provides us an opportunity to be part of a larger ecosystem that helps us create unique social gaming experiences for Indian users," Arpita Kapoor, Co-Founder & CEO, Mech Mocha, said in a statement.

"We look forward to being a part of the Flipkart ecosystem and leveraging the Flipkart Cloud Platform, Super Coins, Reward store and Flipkart Ads platform to strengthen the platform for our users."

Social mobile gaming is seeing massive growth and adoption in India, as socially distanced consumers are looking for ways to connect with friends and family over fun casual games.

Co-founded by Kapoor and Mohit Rangaraju, Mech Mocha has been backed by top tier investors including Accel Partners, Blume Ventures and Shunwei Capital.

As the Mech Mocha team joins Flipkart, they will focus on scaling Flipkart's gaming efforts under the leadership of Prakash Sikaria, Vice-President at Flipkart.

"We see many first-time e-commerce users come online through formats such as video and games, as they build familiarity with the medium. Our observations of Flipkart GameZone, reflect this trend as we see a strong correlation between casual gamers becoming early shoppers on Flipkart for their digital journey," Sikaria said.

"Through this transaction, we will strengthen our capabilities in the gaming domain with access to Mech Mocha's IP, games and talented team that will help us accelerate our efforts in this space."

Prakash Sikaria, Vice-President, Flipkart, said, “At Flipkart, we are focused on providing consumers with an opportunity to access great products and content while giving them an engaging experience. We see many first-time e-commerce users come online through formats such as video and games, as they build familiarity with the medium. Our observations of Flipkart GameZone, reflect this trend as we see a strong correlation between casual gamers becoming early shoppers on Flipkart for their digital journey. Through this transaction, we will strengthen our capabilities in the gaming domain with access to Mech Mocha's IP, games and talented team that will help us accelerate our efforts in this space.”

(With inputs from IANS)