Paytm Senior VP for gaming Dushyant Saraswat quits, plans to start own venture

Within a week after Paytm senior vice president and Paytm Gold head Krishna Hegde resigned from the Alibaba-backed payment major, now Dushyant Saraswat who headed the gaming division has also resigned from the company.

According to a report published in ET, Saraswat who led the mobile gaming joint venture of Paytm and Alibaba-owned AGTech Media Holdings Ltd has left the firm to start his own venture.

His LinkedIn profile also reads that he is associated with Paytm until Jan 2018. In July last year, One97 Communications-owned Paytm formed the joint venture with Hong Kong-based lottery firm AGTech Media to launch a mobile gaming company in India.

Also Read: Trends that will drive Indian gaming industry in 2018

In the joint venture, AGTech Media holds 45 per cent and Paytm is a majority stakeholder, owning 55 per cent.

Saraswat joined Paytm in January 2013. Earlier, he worked at The Walt Disney Company and was also a part of the core team at gaming startup Zapak Digital Entertainment.

On his new venture plans, Saraswat added, "I am deeply passionate about the gaming space so my startup will be around digital content with a focus on gaming."

With the newly launched venture, AGTech has begun its strategic global expansion. For Paytm, the joint venture offers an opportunity to drive deeper consumer engagement as customers can now earn exclusive rewards and discounts on the platform.

Besides Krishna Hegde and  Dushyant Saraswat, the home-grown payment behemoth had also faced exits of Vikas Purohit, senior vice-president at Paytm and Amit Lakhotia, vice president of payments two years ago.

According to ‘Emerging Trends in Indian Gaming Industry’ report, the Indian gaming industry is expected to hit $801 million by 2022, at a compound annual growth rate of 6.61 per cent. With the recent boom in the gaming industry, it will be interesting to see how a payment company leverages the opportunity.