New Delhi, June 23 -- Back in 2012, Akshat Rathee found himself at a gaming festival in Noida that turned out to be a farce. Intermittent electricity, poor infrastructure and missing organisers were just some of the problems he witnessed. It's when he got together with a few mates to run their own mini tournament on the sidelines.

"That accidental event became our proof of concept. We realised that if people like us didn't step up, the gaming ecosystem would never grow the right way," says Gurugram-based Rathee, 46, co-founder and managing director of NODWIN Gaming.

Two years later, Rathee and his co-founder, Gautam Virk, launched NODWIN Gaming to create an ecosystem for esports in India. Gaming was an integral part of Rathee's growing ...