Following its investment in TrulySocial, Indian publisher Nazara has announced its investment in a second London-based developer: Mastermind Sports.

The value of the investment is unconfirmed, but the partnership leaves Nazara with a 26% stake in the London firm.

Mastermind Sports was co-founded by Tom McCall and Bangalore tech entrepreneur Pratik Shah in 2013.

Its debut release CricBet - two years in the making - is due to be released imminently.

Not a gamble

Appealing directly to the Indian audience by centering around the country's national sport, the premise is a cricket betting game that uses virtual currency rather than real money - thus circumventing the illegality of gambling in India and other territories.

The backbone of the game is its intelligent engine, which "adapts to the ebbs and flows of a live match," according to CTO Pratik Shah. Now developed, it has every potential to be applied to other sports in future.

“Our focus is the ‘second screen’ experience," explains CEO Tom McCall.

"We aim to use our sports & technology insights to create mobile games that engage fans during live matches, enhancing experience with their friends & family without geographical constraints.”

For Nazara CEO Manish Agarwal, who has long evangelised the idea of targeting the Indian market directly, it's an exciting opportunity.

"Our investment in Mastermind Sports is to enable deeply engaged fans to have a real-time, social, second screen experience, the fun of watching matches with friends cutting across geographical constraints.”