Gamerji Revolutionizes Indian Esports by Empowering Amateur and Semi-Pro Gamers

In the global esports narrative, the spotlight almost always shines on the top 1%—the pro-athletes with millions of followers and multi-million dollar sponsorships. But what about the millions of gamers who play from their bedrooms, college campuses, and local cafes? Soham Thacker, Founder of Gamerji, identified this "missing middle" as the true heartbeat of the industry. By building a platform dedicated to the amateur and semi-pro audience, Gamerji has scaled to 1.5 million active users, proving that the future of competitive gaming belongs to everyone.

Soham Thacker’s journey is a bold story of reverse migration. A computer engineer from Rutgers University, Soham spent years in the US working for corporate giants like Motorola and SAP. In 2012, driven by a "fire within," he moved back to India to start his own ventures. After multiple entrepreneurial experiences—both successful and failed—he launched Gamerji in 2019, bridging his lifelong love for gaming with his expertise in scalable technology.

The Problem: The Exclusion of the "Average" Gamer

Before Gamerji, the path to becoming a professional gamer in India was opaque and restricted. While you would hear about famous icons like Dynamo or Mortal, there was no structured platform for an average gamer to compete at their own level. Most gamers were stuck in "casual" play, with no way to track their progress or gain "bragging rights" in a competitive setting.

"Most of us play from the comforts of our bedrooms," Soham notes. "We did not have a right place to elevate our gaming skills. An optimal solution was where people could come on a daily basis, participate in tournaments, build their stats, and win prizes."

The Solution: A Digital Stadium for Daily Competition

Gamerji functions as an automated esports tournament platform. It hosts more than 100 tournaments daily across 13 major titles, including BGMI, Call of Duty, and Free Fire. Unlike manual tournaments that are prone to errors and delays, Gamerji’s platform handles the entire lifecycle—from registration to results and prize distribution—digitally.

The Scale: 15x Growth in 15 Months

While Gamerji was already growing, the COVID-19 pandemic acted as a massive catalyst. As gaming moved from the tenth source of entertainment to the top two, Gamerji’s user base exploded. The platform went from 100,000 users in March 2020 to 1.5 million within 15 months.

This rapid scale brought its own challenges. Soham recalls a critical moment when their local servers crashed for five days due to organic traffic. "I realized that if I didn't invest in scale, I would fall face down. I hunted for AWS credits and shifted the entire base to the cloud to stabilize the platform."

Lessons in Entrepreneurship: Endurance and Empathy

Soham Thacker’s decade of building companies in India has provided him with a realistic, "no-nonsense" view of the startup journey. He believes that the "glamour" of being a founder is a myth—it is a solo journey of endurance.

1. Retention is the Only Mantra

"If your funnel is wider at the bottom and slimmer at the top, it's a failed venture," Soham asserts. Maintaining a 76% retention rate requires a relentless focus on customer relations. "One unsatisfied customer in India statistically means 12 customers lost. You have to make the user feel like they belong."

2. Follow the Data, Not Your Ego

Soham warns founders against thinking they know more than their customers. "Get out of the mindset that 'no one knows better than me.' Take feedback. If your user flow needs to change, change it. Evolution must be a never-ending process."

3. The Marathon Mindset

Entrepreneurship is about perseverance. Soham admits he made every basic mistake in the book—from starting a partnership firm instead of a private limited to making text-heavy pitch decks. "Successes keep you going, but small failures shouldn't pinch you. If they don't, you are meant to be an entrepreneur."

The Future: Evolving into a Publisher

Gamerji is not stopping at tournaments. With a massive database of user behaviors and competitive statistics, the platform is evolving into a gaming marketplace and eventually a gaming publisher. By owning the data of millions of amateur players, Gamerji is uniquely positioned to identify the next big gaming trend in India.

Soham Thacker’s story is a testament to the power of identifying an overlooked segment and building for them with empathy and scale. As Gamerji continues to grow, it is ensuring that for India’s 400 million gamers, the competitive fire is only a "Join" button away.

About the Guest

Soham Thacker is the Founder and CEO of Gamerji. A computer engineer from Rutgers University, Soham has a rich background in technology and game development, having worked at Motorola and SAP in the US. A serial entrepreneur with multiple exits, he returned to India to build the infrastructure for the country’s amateur esports community. Under his leadership, Gamerji has become India's leading tournament platform, raising multiple rounds of funding and serving millions of gamers.

Gamerji is an Ahmedabad-based esports company that provides a comprehensive tournament platform for amateur and semi-pro gamers. By automating the competitive experience across 13+ titles, Gamerji helps gamers build their professional profiles and compete for prizes in a secure, digital environment.