How an Indian gaming powerhouse drove Australia's latest AI deal
In one of only a handful of AI-related exits in the Australian ecosystem to date, Sydney startup Nucanon has sold to Indian gaming giant Zupee, which boasts 200 million users.
Nilushanan Kulasingham built his first website at eight, was creating Flash games at 14, and achieved his first multi-million dollar exit by the age of 33.
It's the kind of trajectory many founders and investors could only dream of. But Kulasingham's latest move has largely flown under the radar in the local ecosystem, until now.
Indian gaming giant Zupee earlier this month struck a deal to acquire Kulasingham's AI startup Nucanon. The deal is highly significant — a rare Indian-Australian M&A transaction, the first in the gaming sector, and one of only a handful of AI-related exits for the local ecosystem.
Yet while it was widely covered in the Indian business press, in Australia it was strangely overlooked.
