OneVerse Goes All-In: Calling Station & BatBall11 Acquisitions to Fuel Aggressive Growth

Metaverse and gaming tech startup OneVerse is aggressively reshaping India’s gaming landscape. In its latest move, it has acquired the online poker platform Calling Station and fantasy sports portal BatBall11. This strategic push follows their February acquisition of Spartan Poker and is backed by a massive $120 Million investment war chest. OneVerse’s unyielding goal is clear: to become India’s top gaming firm by acquiring almost a dozen companies within the space.

Strengthening Their Hand: Why Calling Station & BatBall11?

> Calling Station: Founded in 2018, this poker platform carved a niche with cash games, high-value tournaments, and competitive leaderboards. Although less aggressive recently, their acquisition strengthens OneVerse’s position in the lucrative online poker arena with Spartan Poker already in its portfolio.

> BatBall11: Established in 2019 and based in Ahmedabad, BatBall11 is one of India’s fastest-growing fantasy sports platforms. OneVerse gains a powerful foothold in this booming market segment.

While specific financial terms remain undisclosed, these moves underscore OneVerse’s commitment to building a gaming empire at scale. These acquisitions also bring a combined 14 lakh users into OneVerse’s fold!

Voices of the Vision

E. Paul Micheal, CEO of OneVerse Gaming, values efficiency as a weapon: “We are very impressed with the execution capabilities of the leadership at Batball11 and Calling Station. They have achieved substantial growth with very minimal capital infusion. We believe that they bring a valuable synergy to our gaming portfolio not just in terms of business value but also in terms of the operating efficiency of their teams, which is crucial for the next phase of growth.”

He promises an additional ₹250 Crore investment to fuel exponential growth. “We are looking at investing an additional ₹250 Crores across our portfolio of planned investments, which is expected to triple growth within one year.”

Calling Station CEO Arvind Jain stands by innovation and security. “At Calling Station, we stand at the forefront of gaming innovation, delivering an unparalleled experience driven by cutting-edge software and unwavering commitment to online safety and security.”

BatBall11 Managing Director Varun Parikh sees victory in collaboration: “This partnership will redefine gaming innovation for our users in India and beyond.”Through our collaboration with these firms, we aspire to redefine the realm of innovation, offering unmatched gaming encounters to our user base in India and across the globe.”

Dhyanesh Sundarmurthy, Co-Head of RMB Capital India and deal advisor for OneVerse sees the continued potential for explosive growth: “This is about more than just buying companies – it’s about fusing player networks and creating a gaming powerhouse.”

Navigating the Storm: GST Challenges and Consolidation

OneVerse sees recent economic challenges as fertile ground for its aggressive expansion, with favourable conditions for M&A activity. They also intend to retain the management teams of all acquired firms, ensuring continuity and deep industry knowledge.

Company founder Prashanth Joshua has a bold plan for victory against the 28% GST headwinds. He breaks it down: gaming companies can lose up to 20% of revenue on marketing and salaries. By uniting multiple companies under the OneVerse banner, that overhead could shrink significantly. “Gaming companies haemorrhage 20% of revenue on marketing and salaries. By uniting seven or eight companies under the OneVerse banner, that overhead could shrink by a whopping 15%. This offsets the GST, gives us access to deeper investor pockets, and lets us outpace the competition. It’s about streamlining, scaling, and winning,” he asserts.

The Uncertain Landscape

This aggressive strategy confronts a turbulent Indian online gaming ecosystem. The 28% GST on initial deposits and retrospective GST tax demands exceeding ₹1 Lakh Crore issued to many gaming firms have made investors wary and dried up funding. OneVerse is betting that their scale and efficiency gains will offset these challenges and help them dominate the market.

This is a high-stakes game, and OneVerse is going all-in. Can they build the gaming empire they envision? Only time will tell!