Vishal Gondal to exit Disney UTV

Vishal Gondal, founder and CEO, Indiagames, and currently managing director, digital, Disney UTV, is moving on. His last working day will be 30 June.

Sameer Ganapathy, who was handling the distribution for the media networks business of Disney UTV, will take over the business functions of the digital arm.

Going forward, Gondal intends to launch another entrepreneurial venture.

“Indiagames had small beginnings but a big dream. Excellent support from our early investors Infinity, IL&FS, TOM Online, Adobe, Cisco and UTV and the subsequent acquisition by Walt Disney provided us the opportunity to work towards our vision of making gaming big in India. Over last 18 months, we have spent time integrating the teams and set a platform for continued growth. Consequently, I’ve decided to move on to pursue my dreams and passion of being an entrepreneur,” said Gondal.

In 1999, Gondal had launched Indiagames, then a five member team that primarily engaged in publishing and developing games across various platforms like Internet, PC, broadband, mobile phones, PDAs, handheld gaming devices and consoles. In 2005, TOM online Games, a subsidiary of TOM Online Inc, took major stake in the company, with Gondal continuing as CEO. In 2007, UTV Software Communication acquired a majority stake in Indiagames. Disney completed its acquisition of UTV in 2011, and a restructuring of Indiagames and Disney UTV Digital followed.

“Vishal has been a great founder and CEO for Indiagames. As we consolidate the digital, mobile and web play for Disney UTV in India, we plan to build on our creative prowess and transform the digital business to be a direct to consumer, yet working closely with all our partners, telecom operators, OEMs and others. This is similar to our approach in our other verticals of movies, broadcasting and consumer products,” said Ronnie Screwvala, MD – Disney UTV.

On the succession plan, he added, “Sameer Ganapathy brings an astute business sense and high resourcefulness to this position, which is key to meet the ever growing trajectory of the digital business in India.”

The digital team of Disney UTV combines all mobile, video, audio, broadband, ITV, games and virtual world initiatives and claims a combined audience reach of over 300 million in India. Its mandate is to develop and manage all digital content across Disney UTV brands, including original content for web, mobile and games.