OKIE Ventures: Bringing about a transformation in the digital electronics & gaming industry
“After making all the mistakes, every player has a chance to turn the outcome of the game around by making the right moves next.” “The only boundaries for you are those you place in yourself.” “The team that keeps winning is not the most talented but the most hard-working.”- Zoltan Andrejkovics,
As Esports gathers its global appeal, it has surprised broadcasters and media houses who never thought it could generate such a large audience. what about thriving real-money gaming industry? “The total amount of investments done in esports businesses in India is less than $10 million, whereas the total investments in real money gaming is over $1 billion.”
We live in a digital world. One generation grew up hitting the cricket ball in the backyard. The other generation is growing up digitally. Real money gaming is like competitive video gaming. Thanks to streaming services. E-gamers can earn handsome amounts. These games gather tens of thousands of players.
We bring forward a story of one such company that is bringing about transformation in the digital gaming & electronics industry.
OKIE Ventures is one of India’s fast-growing manufacturing companies specializing in OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) and ODM (Original Design Manufacturer). OKIE Ventures Pvt Ltd has launched its brand of consumer electronics called OKIE Electronics as well as a homegrown gaming platform called OKIE Gaming.
OKIE Electronics introduced the 4k HD LED smart TV series with unique features to give consumers an ultimate television watching experience whereas OKIE Gaming platform has real money games such as Smart Housie, Smart Numbers, Bid2win, Cricket, and Smart Card, and aims to offer more games every month. They have also launched a culturally immersive game called Desi Sports League.
The MD Mr. Jitin Masand shares, “The decision to move from distribution to gaming & electronics has been made when these sectors are booming. We believe this is a great opportunity for our brand!”
The Agents of Change: How OKIE Ventures adapts to the digitally growing needs
With the changes being unpredictable, at Okie Ventures we strive to adapt to the new changes. All the employees come together once every week, sit and discuss the ways to overcome them, these challenges can either be small or big, this has helped us being flexible and adaptive to situations and needs.
Ramping up R&D: How Right research and developmental strategies give you a competitive advantage.
Businesses are better placed to compete in the global marketplace with regular R&D investment in technology & innovation. Research and development can lead to great inventions and generate innovative ideas. This stage can set us apart when it comes to maintaining a competitive advantage. OKIE Ventures believes in continuous learning and implementing these learnings for the holistic growth of the business & company.
OKIE Ventures being a digital venture has come up with new technology to sustain in the market. At present, the team of OKIE Ventures is working towards AR (Augmented Reality) which is one of the latest technology investments. OKIE Ventures is effectively using AI for building a robust backend & frontend system.
Here’s how OKIE Ventures keeps its Employees Happy
It is very important to keep the employees motivated, as only the motivated ones can give their 100% resulting in better growth for the company. Regular motivation by encouraging them for their good work is something that OKIE Ventures has been following ever since its day of incorporation. Along with this, the company organizes team building activities periodically to ensure employee’s happiness and to make them feel a like family. This has a great role in getting to know one another which creates a better working environment. The company also ensures to maintain the social and emotional wellbeing of its employees.
Want to know more about this promising company? We had a conversation with the founder Mr. Jitin Masand to bring you some exclusive insights on who they are, how they work, and what they believe in. Here’s a quick glimpse.
Unveil your mission at the outset of this business venture.
Let me talk about Okie Gaming, the journey started with the idea of venturing into real money games but in the last 6-8 months, the gaming industry has changed completely different than what it was earlier. We also noticed that there were no games that were inspired by Indian culture. We have so many concepts that are available in India but none had the cultural aspect to it, that is when we thought of creating ‘Desi Sports League’ – One-of-a-kind games that focuses on popular regional sports like Vallam Kali (Boat Racing, Kerala), Dahi Handi (Maharashtra) and more. With this, our intent is to target not only Indians here but also Indians and non-Indians abroad. The idea also comes from the government’s appeal asking Indian developers to create games that are inspired by Indian culture and folk tales.
What steps you took to alleviate the risks to your company born out of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The program for OKIE Gaming was developed before the pandemic started. When the pandemic started, we witnessed a huge growth in the digital space and gaming, where Ludo King became the leader. This made us confident! Before the pandemic, there were around 300 million people who were playing and during the pandemic, the engagement had increased to 400 million. Also, mobile phones became an integral part of one’s life during a pandemic, which surely led to an increase in the user base. Thus, we are confident of Okie Gaming and are looking forward to building more products in this space.
Speaking of the Electronics segment, I have been in the electronic business since over a decade and realized India has a huge potential and can manufacture its own line of electronics. With this thought, Okie Electronics came into existence that was perfectly in line with our PM’s vision of Make in India.
Okie electronics has a promising range of 4k LED Smart Tv’s at an affordable price, and we believe not only the Indian market but Okie has huge a potential to penetrate different geographies.
What kind of business model do you maintain? How does it help you to overcome challenges?
OKIE Ventures is a bootstrapped company with around 125 employees. We have invested a huge amount in this project. We have Actor Kajal Aggarwal as the Brand Ambassador for Okie Tv and as a Strategic Partner for Okie Gaming & Digitech.
For gaming, we aim to have over 20 million downloads in the next 6 months and once we achieve our target, we will look for a strategic partner that can help us go global. Speaking of the Electronics Business, we have received a great response in the Southern India Market with our innovative marketing and sales campaigns.
Please shine some light on the future endeavors of the Company.
We’re soon to open a factory in Vasai, Maharashtra of over 40,000 sqft for our electronics business, we look forward to giving employment opportunities to plenty in these difficult times.
Our next one-year roadmap will be focused on skill-based games and fantasy sports. This month, we are going to be adding Bid-to-win, Ludo, Cricket, Spin to win, etc. but our main concept of introducing OKIE Gaming is the Desi Sports League which resonates with the Indian culture. People here have forgotten the local sports, so we are looking to club Indian sports with gaming where the users will have a unique gaming experience, of playing local sports in gaming format with a chance to earn money and other prizes. The first game of Desi Sports League will be active in November and I am sure it will be a huge success.
India imports a huge number of electronic products today, he sees to minimize that number and is already working on expanding its product line to Air Conditioners, Refrigerators and Washing Machines.
