Success ‘on cards’ for two young entrepreneurs
LUCKNOW: If you are a card gaming enthusiast, then entrepreneurs Akash Khanduja and Ivnish Juneja, both 25, may just have the right offering for you.
The Dehradun duo has launched a card game Minimize to fill the void in card gaming industry dominated by a few American companies. “Since our school days we were fond of card and board games. Inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Startup India programme, we decided to do something in the gaming industry,” said Akash.
Akash and Ivnish set up a stall at the UP Investors’ Summit which was thronged by gaming enthusiasts.
A commerce graduate from Delhi University, Akash is a chartered accountant. His partner Ivnish, who also happens to be his school friend, is also from Dehradun. Ivnish pursued English (Hons) and masters in women studies from Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi.
Their company, IVAK Entertainment Games LLP, started sales in February 2018 and sold about 275 decks of cards in the first two days of the launch.
Akash said they started the company with an initial investment of about Rs 25 lakh.
“Our company has officially been recognised as a startup by the department of industrial policy and promotion under the Startup India programme,” he said. “After extensive research we realised that there is a void in the card game industry which is globally dominated by a handful of American companies. There is a lot of outflow of money in the form of royalties to companies based in other countries,” he added. Speaking about the game, Akash said Minimize had a total of 108 cards having two decks of 54 cards each.
“A minimum of two and a maximum eight players can play the game. Though children above 7 years of age may play it, the game is ideally meant for teenagers. There is no upper age limit as I have seen the elderly enjoying the game,” he said.
Akash and Ivnish said they marketed the product through their Facebook page ‘MinimizeIndia’ which already has over 7,500 likes.