Manish Agarwal Joins NODWIN Gaming Board as Non-Executive Director

Executive who helped take India’s only listed gaming company public joins as NODWIN accelerates preparations for a potential IPO

Gurugram, India, 14th April, 2026: NODWIN Gaming, a leading esports and youth entertainment company, today announced the appointment of Manish Agarwal to its Board as a Non-Executive Director. An executive who played a key role in scaling and taking public India’s only listed gaming company, Manish brings deep experience in public market readiness, governance, and institutional growth as NODWIN accelerates preparations for a potential public listing. Notably, he has been associated with NODWIN since its early days leading Nazara Technology’s investment into the company, bringing a long-term perspective on the company’s evolution, strategy, and category leadership.

 

 

Manish is a successful entrepreneur and ecosystem builder, currently Co-founder of KGeN (Kratos Gamer Network) – a verified human distribution network organizing micro-communities across the Global South to power engagement, commerce. KGeN is backed by leading global investors including Accel and Prosus, with its most recent private round valuing the company at approximately $500 million. 

He is also the Founder of Humyn Labs, which works with frontier technology companies to transform signals from real-world communities into structured human intelligence systems for AI. 

As a Non-Executive Director, Manish will work closely with the Board and leadership team to strengthen governance, strategic oversight, and long-term value creation as the company scales across markets and builds institutional depth aligned with public market expectations.

Manish Agarwal, Co-Founder, KGeN & Humyn Labs said: “Having seen NODWIN’s journey from its early stages to becoming a leading force in youth culture and gaming, it’s been exciting to watch its evolution. As the company now prepares for its next phase, including its path towards public markets, I look forward to contributing to building a globally relevant and institutionally strong platform.”

Akshat Rathee, Managing Director and Co-Founder, NODWIN Gaming said: “Manish has been a long-time partner in NODWIN’s journey, from leading Nazara Technologies’ investment into the company to now joining our Board at a crucial inflection point. He is the leader who took Nazara public and created immense shareholder value, and brings that same mindset as we prepare for our own public market journey. Manish brings a rare combination of entrepreneurial vision and public market experience that is incredibly valuable at this stage of our journey. We are confident his strategic guidance will play an important role as we advance our pre-IPO round and continue creating long-term value for our stakeholders. We are delighted to welcome him to the Board at this important stage.”

NODWIN Gaming has been steadily expanding its footprint across gaming, creator ecosystems, and youth culture, building a diversified platform spanning content, commerce, and experiences. The company continues to invest in strengthening its institutional capabilities, governance frameworks, and global presence as it prepares for its next chapter.

This appointment is part of a broader set of strategic moves by NODWIN Gaming as it prepares for its next phase of growth. Earlier this month, the company brought back Sidharth Kedia to lead strategy, capital planning, and M&A, reinforcing its focus on disciplined growth and shareholder value creation.

Alongside bringing Arnd Benninghoff onto the Board and kicking off a $100 million pre-IPO fundraise, these moves reflect a deliberate effort to strengthen leadership, governance, and strategic depth as NODWIN moves closer to the public markets.After posting a strong INR 524 Cr in FY25, the result of a consistent 50%+ CAGR since 2018, the company has already eclipsed that milestone. In the first three quarters of FY26 alone, revenue reached INR 530.3 Cr while maintaining EBITDA-positive operations, signaling a record-breaking year ahead.

 

About NODWIN Gaming:

NODWIN Gaming, a leader in new-age youth entertainment, gaming, and esports, holds a significant position in the global gaming and esports industry in emerging markets. Since its inception in 2014 by Akshat Rathee and Gautam Virk, NODWIN has established a global presence in regions such as Taiwan, South Asia, Singapore, the Middle East, Central Asia. The company’s business centres around building and monetising global youth access through pop culture, gaming, esports, live events and content through IPs such as Leagues, Tournaments, Reality shows. It engages with Artists, Content creators, professional esports athletes, teams. Notable investors include Founders investment vehicle Good Game Investments, Nazara Technologies (BSE: NAZARA), KRAFTON Inc, Sony Group Corporation and JetSynthesys.

A key focus for NODWIN Gaming is the expertise in the global south and the timeshare of mindshare of the global youth on mobiles. NODWIN has established a dominant position worldwide in this space. By catering to the youth demographic, NODWIN is expanding its Total Addressable Market (TAM) by becoming increasingly relevant in the rapidly evolving digital entertainment landscape. Their diverse range of intellectual properties that engages the youth spans esports, gaming, pop culture, music, and comedy. This strategic expansion and cultivation of new intellectual properties are crucial to NODWIN’s aim of maintaining a significant role in the global youth media, gaming and esports Arena​s.

For more information, visit www.nodwingaming.com