ET NowIn an interview with ETNow, Raj Kundra, CMD, Viaan Industries, about their pact with Poker Federation, their UK buyout and guidance going forward. Edited excerpts:
Can you just walk us through the business model and your key revenue streams?
Raj Kundra: Absolutely. So Viaan Industries Ltd has three verticals; one is licensing and technology which concentrates on Fintech and licensing various products and creating IPs in the country in the software fintech space. Then we have a wellness department to our business which is direct selling as well as a YoYo frozen yogurt brand that is there. And last but not least is our animation department, animation and gaming. So we have a variety of celebrity games that we are working on over the next six, nine months we have a huge pipeline of games coming out as well as a big animation TV series that we have just signed with one of India’s largest broadcasters which we will be announcing shortly as well.
We understand you are also considering an acquisition in London. Can you share the nature of this and how much you plan to spend on the acquisition?
Raj Kundra: That is right. So we are planning over a course of three year it will require an investment of about a Rs 100 cores. It is in the precious metals space, we cannot disclose too much at the moment. We are just in the process of final due diligence but that acquisition will basically open up our window, keep us international. It is a very successful business model that this team has and we believe that our skill and expertise in this area would actually help create value for everyone vested in this project.
You recently attended the Centrum Conference. Share with us some of the key takeaways, what was the investor feedback like, what kind of commentary did you get?
Raj Kundra: It was a great meeting and honestly speaking a great compliment we got from one of the fund managers there was we did not know about Viaan, we did not realise you are listed company promoted by Raj and Shilpa. And honestly you guys are a hidden gem when he heard the pipeline of projects that we have and the potential revenue streams that are coming in the next nine to 12 months. He called us a hidden gem which was a nice compliment. I mean we really sort of look at opportunity because we believe that opportunity is not something that is disruptive and that is where the whole licensing and technology takes place. We have just licensed, if you are aware, India’s fist Poker League, it is called Match IPL and that poker league is eight teams with 64 players and we have tied up with the International Federation of Poker which has 62 other countries who have already partnered. So this league will actually give us the eight best players that will go on to represent Team India with the Indian jersey to play the World Cup of Poker in Berlin later this year. So we are really excited by the opportunity, we have signed a deal with the International Federation of Poker which is chaired by Patrick who is pretty much the founder of multiple sports through Switzerland.
Let us talk a bit about the numbers, Revenues and PAT in Q4 grew smartly, what led to the growth and how do you see revenues shaping up in the future?
Raj Kundra: So the first question honestly is we have been basically consolidating everything and putting it together and I have been giving it my whole and soul, this is my little baby, it is named after my son so it comes with a lot of pride and a lot of hours go into making this company what it is today. I see a lot of future growth. We have just started, this is just the beginning. I wish I could announce some of the deals that are in the pipeline but a lot of them price sensitive so let us just wait. A couple of more months, when I can announce some of the deals which will really rocket this company to another level. It is an exciting phase for us, it is a very exciting phase. We have sort of never been in a listed entity environment so there is a lot do’s and don’ts that we need to follow and all I have done is just consolidated all my businesses and used all my skill set. I am currently investing in people, the right people that will take the company from where it is now hopefully 3x, 4x in the coming years. So fingers crossed, we are on the right path.
Margins well have expanded quite smartly in Q4, what kind of margin expansion are you looking at in FY18?
Raj Kundra: On our profit margins honestly on all our products anything we work on in in the industry I do not touch it unless it is double digits. We are looking at anything between 20-25% profit margins across all our various verticals of business, be it the licensing technology, be it the wellness arm or be it the animation and the gaming studio. We work on a minimum of 25-30% return.
Can you just walk us through the business model and your key revenue streams?
Raj Kundra: Absolutely. So Viaan Industries Ltd has three verticals; one is licensing and technology which concentrates on Fintech and licensing various products and creating IPs in the country in the software fintech space. Then we have a wellness department to our business which is direct selling as well as a YoYo frozen yogurt brand that is there. And last but not least is our animation department, animation and gaming. So we have a variety of celebrity games that we are working on over the next six, nine months we have a huge pipeline of games coming out as well as a big animation TV series that we have just signed with one of India’s largest broadcasters which we will be announcing shortly as well.
We understand you are also considering an acquisition in London. Can you share the nature of this and how much you plan to spend on the acquisition?
Raj Kundra: That is right. So we are planning over a course of three year it will require an investment of about a Rs 100 cores. It is in the precious metals space, we cannot disclose too much at the moment. We are just in the process of final due diligence but that acquisition will basically open up our window, keep us international. It is a very successful business model that this team has and we believe that our skill and expertise in this area would actually help create value for everyone vested in this project.
You recently attended the Centrum Conference. Share with us some of the key takeaways, what was the investor feedback like, what kind of commentary did you get?
Raj Kundra: It was a great meeting and honestly speaking a great compliment we got from one of the fund managers there was we did not know about Viaan, we did not realise you are listed company promoted by Raj and Shilpa. And honestly you guys are a hidden gem when he heard the pipeline of projects that we have and the potential revenue streams that are coming in the next nine to 12 months. He called us a hidden gem which was a nice compliment. I mean we really sort of look at opportunity because we believe that opportunity is not something that is disruptive and that is where the whole licensing and technology takes place. We have just licensed, if you are aware, India’s fist Poker League, it is called Match IPL and that poker league is eight teams with 64 players and we have tied up with the International Federation of Poker which has 62 other countries who have already partnered. So this league will actually give us the eight best players that will go on to represent Team India with the Indian jersey to play the World Cup of Poker in Berlin later this year. So we are really excited by the opportunity, we have signed a deal with the International Federation of Poker which is chaired by Patrick who is pretty much the founder of multiple sports through Switzerland.
Let us talk a bit about the numbers, Revenues and PAT in Q4 grew smartly, what led to the growth and how do you see revenues shaping up in the future?
Raj Kundra: So the first question honestly is we have been basically consolidating everything and putting it together and I have been giving it my whole and soul, this is my little baby, it is named after my son so it comes with a lot of pride and a lot of hours go into making this company what it is today. I see a lot of future growth. We have just started, this is just the beginning. I wish I could announce some of the deals that are in the pipeline but a lot of them price sensitive so let us just wait. A couple of more months, when I can announce some of the deals which will really rocket this company to another level. It is an exciting phase for us, it is a very exciting phase. We have sort of never been in a listed entity environment so there is a lot do’s and don’ts that we need to follow and all I have done is just consolidated all my businesses and used all my skill set. I am currently investing in people, the right people that will take the company from where it is now hopefully 3x, 4x in the coming years. So fingers crossed, we are on the right path.
Margins well have expanded quite smartly in Q4, what kind of margin expansion are you looking at in FY18?
Raj Kundra: On our profit margins honestly on all our products anything we work on in in the industry I do not touch it unless it is double digits. We are looking at anything between 20-25% profit margins across all our various verticals of business, be it the licensing technology, be it the wellness arm or be it the animation and the gaming studio. We work on a minimum of 25-30% return.
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