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Piyush Kumar
Founder & CEO, Rooter - Building biggest Gaming & Esports Community for 🇮🇳
Piyush Kumar is the Founder and CEO of Rooter.gg, India's largest game streaming and esports content platform.12 He founded the company in September 2016 and has been leading it since then.1 Rooter.gg has grown to become a significant player in the gaming industry, with over 50 million downloads and ranking as the #1 app in the 'sports' category on the Google Play Store since October 2020.3
Prior to founding Rooter, Piyush had a diverse career in marketing and advertising:
- Marketing Manager (India) at Rado, Swatch Group (December 2011 - September 2016)
- Sr. Brand Manager, Marketing at Dish TV (September 2009 - December 2011)
- Group Manager - Client Servicing at FCB Ulka (April 2004 - September 2009)
- Management Trainee at RMG David (April 2003 - March 2004)
- Client Services Manager at Ideastreamz (January 2002 - March 2003)1
Piyush is a graduate of Delhi University.1 He has been recognized in the industry, receiving the BW Disrupt 40 under 40 - Achiever of the Year award in 2017.1
Under his leadership, Rooter has achieved significant milestones:
- 16.6 million+ monthly active users
- 1.4 million+ daily active users
- 15,000+ professional streamers
- 1.2 million+ users creating content monthly
- $5 million annual recurring revenue2
Piyush's vision for Rooter is to create communities that connect people and unlock new monetization models in the gaming and esports industry.1
Highlights
We spent 15 months away from the public eye, putting our heads down to strengthen and grow Rooter. We think it’s time to share what we’ve been up to…
A few days back, the GST council shared a recommendation to levy 28% GST on the full-face value of the money wagered on online gaming. Does this affect the entire gaming ecosystem? Not really.
We have received multiple queries in the last 2 weeks on this development. Here is our clarification:
There are diverse business models operating in the Indian Gaming industry. As such, the new GST recommendations don't affect content platforms like Rooter & YouTube.
Here's why: Rooter operates as a 'broadcast' platform for our users. They come to us to watch esports tournaments and gaming content, stream games, create content around their gameplay, and display their video gaming skills to the world. We don't charge the user any fee for doing this.
Also, because the games aren't directly played on Rooter, whether the player loses or wins has no financial implication on us, and as such, we don't pay them any winnings.
Then, how do platforms like ours make money? Most of our revenue comes from brands through multiple advertising solutions like display ads, performance marketing, influencer campaigns, sponsorships etc. As per the current regulations, these advertisements attract 18% GST, at par with other services. We also sell goods through Rooter Store, our commerce feature, which too attracts 18% GST.
So, the current recommendations don't affect the Indian Gaming industry uniformly, and their impact should be assessed in the specific context of the business model to which they are applied.
Having said that, we stand in solidarity with our friends at all gaming companies that are deeply impacted by this development. We hope there is a review of the GST proposal and a middle ground is reached to continue pushing the growth of the Indian Gaming Industry.
We understand that the GST Council's recommendation has been based on a clear thesis which attempts to simplify the taxation structure for this industry. But we believe that a conversation with all stakeholders will enable the industry to put forward their viewpoint and work with the council and the Government for a healthier solution.
