Key Takeaways
- • Bengaluru-based social gaming startup Matiks raised $10 million (Rs 95.1 crore) in a pre-Series A round led by General Catalyst, with upGrad founder Ronnie Screwvala also joining.
- • Existing investors Info Edge Ventures, Tanglin Venture Partners and Untitled Ventures participated, bringing the company's total funding to more than $13.5 million.
- • The round is roughly three times the size of the $3.14 million pre-Series A raised in August 2025.
- • Matiks will prioritise the US market before other tier-one markets, using part of the capital for an AI-powered game creation engine.
- • The company earns mainly from in-game purchases and began testing a subscription this month, while most of its players remain in India.
Summary
Bengaluru-based social gaming startup Matiks has raised $10 million (Rs 95.1 crore) in a pre-Series A funding round led by General Catalyst, according to the company's announcement as reported by Indian Startup News. The two-year-old platform offers games built around mathematics, memory, logic and puzzles. Upgrad founder Ronnie Screwvala also joined the round, alongside existing investors Info Edge Ventures, Tanglin Venture Partners and Untitled Ventures. The new round is roughly three times the size of the $3.14 million pre-Series A the startup raised in August 2025, and brings its total funding to more than $13.5 million.
Matiks said it will use the capital to expand internationally, build new games and social experiences, and increase spending on engineering, AI, product, design, game development and growth. It will also scale creator partnerships and global distribution. A portion of the funds will go into an AI-powered game creation engine that lets users build, publish and share brain games in several formats without writing code. The company has already launched an experimental version of this tool, called Jelo, which reportedly competes with tools such as Google's Playground.
The company plans to prioritise the US before entering other tier-one markets. Most of its players are in India, but it has seen early engagement in Japan, the US and South Korea, and reportedly plans to localise the app for Korean and Japanese users. Co-founder and CEO Sudhanshu Bhatia said the company aims to make mind sports as culturally relevant as physical sports and esports.
Matiks was founded in September 2024 by Bhatia, Mohan Kumar and Sushant Timmapur, who are college friends. Bhatia has a background in competitive mental maths and previously worked at American Express on anti-money laundering strategy. Users play against bots or other players, take on challenges and quests, and compete in weekly contests. The startup has so far prioritised user growth over monetisation, earning revenue from in-game purchases such as challenge skips and XP boosts. This month it began testing a subscription that unlocks game analysis, tips, practice and other features.
According to Mordor Intelligence, India's gaming market is projected to grow from $5.02 billion in 2026 to $9.89 billion by 2031, a compound annual growth rate of about 14.5%, with mobile accounting for roughly 79% of the market in 2025.
Matiks said it will use the capital to expand internationally, build new games and social experiences, and increase spending on engineering, AI, product, design, game development and growth. It will also scale creator partnerships and global distribution. A portion of the funds will go into an AI-powered game creation engine that lets users build, publish and share brain games in several formats without writing code. The company has already launched an experimental version of this tool, called Jelo, which reportedly competes with tools such as Google's Playground.
The company plans to prioritise the US before entering other tier-one markets. Most of its players are in India, but it has seen early engagement in Japan, the US and South Korea, and reportedly plans to localise the app for Korean and Japanese users. Co-founder and CEO Sudhanshu Bhatia said the company aims to make mind sports as culturally relevant as physical sports and esports.
Matiks was founded in September 2024 by Bhatia, Mohan Kumar and Sushant Timmapur, who are college friends. Bhatia has a background in competitive mental maths and previously worked at American Express on anti-money laundering strategy. Users play against bots or other players, take on challenges and quests, and compete in weekly contests. The startup has so far prioritised user growth over monetisation, earning revenue from in-game purchases such as challenge skips and XP boosts. This month it began testing a subscription that unlocks game analysis, tips, practice and other features.
According to Mordor Intelligence, India's gaming market is projected to grow from $5.02 billion in 2026 to $9.89 billion by 2031, a compound annual growth rate of about 14.5%, with mobile accounting for roughly 79% of the market in 2025.
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