Modern Times Group (MTG), a Swedish gaming business, has invested $360 million (about Rs 2,686 crore) in cash and equity for Bengaluru-based word games creator PlaySimple. This is one of the most significant exits in the Indian startup sector.

MTG, which purchased the company through its subsidiary MTG Gaming, would pay 77 percent in cash and the remaining amount in Class B shares.

In 2016, PlaySimple raised four millionSeries AElevation Capital and Chiratae Ventures at a valuation of around $16 million. (The business, which started in Bangalore, only raised $4.5 million from outside investors in total)

But its clear that PlaySimple's sales has already rose by 144 percent year over year to $83 million last year, and the company was on course to surpass $60 million in the first half of 2021.

In a joint statement, PlaySimple co-founders and management team members Siddhanth Jain, Suraj Nalin, and Preeti Reddy said, "we're tremendously pleased of the games we've built over the years, as well as the infrastructure and size that we've achieved with our team”.

The cash payout is planned to be finished by July 29, but the share transfer will be finalized after regulatory approvals, according to the company.

It further stated that the agreement contains $150 million in cash for extra performance-based bonuses.
PlaySimple, which was founded in 2014 by Siddharth Jain, Suraj Nalin, Siddhanth Jain, and Preeti Reddy, has a portfolio of nine casual games, including Daily Themed Crossword, WordTrip, WordJam, WordWars, WordTrek, and Solitaire.

These games have a total of 75 million downloads and seven million monthly active users, with 1.9 million of those being daily active users. Women account for roughly 80 percent of the total player base.

In a joint statement, PlaySimple co-founders Siddhanth Jain, Suraj Nalin, and Preeti Reddy said, "As we join the MTG family, we look forward to leveraging our proprietary technology across MTG's gaming portfolio, expanding into the European market, investing in cutting-edge technology, and building exciting new games".

MTG Group President and CEO Maria Redin stated in a statement, "PlaySimple is a rapidly developing and highly lucrative games studio that has quickly established itself as one of the leading global makers of free-to-play word games, an exciting new genre for MTG”.

PlaySimple will help the Stockholm-based company establish a broad gaming vertical, according to the company, which has recently purchased Hutch and Ninja Kiwi. The firm stated that “scaling and diversifying the GamingCo [an MTG subsidiary] helps to accelerate operational performance while also generating a more reliable business”.