Introduction
Founded in 2018, SportsBaazi is a soaring gaming startup with over 9 Million user base. They are building India’s First Live Gaming Ecosystem by offering games like Fantasy Cricket, Football, and Kabaddi.
After a successful engagement with BaaziGames in 2023, an investor in SportsBaazi, Purple Quarter, was recommended to help SportsBaazi find their AVP of Engineering. With a young team and a need for a hands-on leader, SportsBaazi sought someone with a fintech background rather than solely gaming experience, along with a proven track record of scaling platforms.
Problem Statement
Undergoing the next phase of growth, SportsBaazi faced varied technical challenges related to infrastructure scaling, cloud security, and data security & compliance. With an aim to amplify market share and diversify gaming categories, SportsBaazi sought to onboard an AVP of Engineering who can chart the technical trajectory for the organization’s future.
The leader would be responsible for constructing a scalable system and architecture while serving as the organization’s representative in various tech forums.
Solution & Execution
Even though gamingtech partnerships aren’t new to Purple Quarter (BaaziGames and Gameskraft) SportsBaazi’s mandate posed certain unique challenges. The gaming industry in India is still nascent, making it difficult to attract talent due to hesitations around this space.
Moreover, as an early-stage startup, SportsBaazi’s leadership expectations were multifaceted; they wanted an AVP of Engineering who could act as a CTO and manage the whole tech team, execute hands-on technical tasks, and scale their product. Additionally, budget constraints limited their ability to attract high-profile candidates.
Despite the challenges, we diligently conducted the search process and identified Apoorv Saxena as the ideal candidate, who perfectly matched SportsBaazi’s requirements. Apoorv demonstrated a strong fintech background, having worked as an Associate Director of Engineering at BharatPe. His proven expertise in building PostPe – BharatPe’s Buy Now Pay Later offering – along with his ability to handle both front and backend app development, made him the right fit for SportsBaazi.
Throughout the process, we provided comprehensive support, not only in finding the right candidate but also assisting in negotiation and compensation discussions.
A key highlight of this appointment was bridging the gap between industries—bringing a seasoned leader from the well-established fintech space into an early-stage gaming startup. This transition required careful alignment of expectations and culture, ensuring a seamless fit for both parties. Using our Behavioural Metrics Model (BMM), we identified Apoorv’s leadership style as that of a Creator with a hands-on approach—precisely what the client needed.
Looking Forward
We worked closely with SportsBaazi team to ensure a smooth onboarding process, maintaining regular contact with Apoorv to resolve any concerns during the transition. Apoorv has successfully settled into his role at SportsBaazi and is now focused on scaling the engineering team.
He is actively involved in onboarding new team members to support SportsBaazi’s ambitious goals and his leadership would be instrumental in setting the foundation for the company’s future growth.
For more information, please reach out to the Marketing Team.
