HelloBiz Nov2017 HelloBiz6 | Page 28

This month HelloBiz with Mr. Ankur Maheshwary, founder and director at Modern Group and is the man behind providing world-class entertainment to the Indian subcontinent. With a management degree from ESADE Business School and rich private equity experience, he means serious business when it comes to gaming. He is the brain behind the chain of multi-dimensional theaters- Mastiii 7D in over 21 locations nationally. An entrepreneur who loves traveling the world and loves gadgets, spends most of his time in research and development, back in his production factory in Gwalior where he and his enthralling team release super hit concepts like Virtual Reality cricket, Surgical strike in 7D and work on 7D, 9D theatre, and virtual reality technology projects. His team is also involved in the curation of world-class animation projects and technologies like hololens and augmented reality. Modern Group also serves the society through its educational institutions. The group is also the owner of Shyam Vatika (Gwalior) which holds a Guinness world record for the largest indoor mural in the world. Modern Masti Private Limited is the fastest growing entertainment retailer with a passion to bring international standard cinema, gaming, bowling and entertainment to the customers. From multi-dimensional (7D/XD) theater setups to full-fledged family entertainment centers, in a very small amount of time Mastiii as a brand has exponentially exploded to more than 20 locations. Apart from being into the operations of Family Entertainment Centers (FECs), Modern Group has also been majorly present in the manufacturing of amusement products. What made you take the leap into amusement industry? While I was a management student in the ESADE Business School in Spain, I kept a keen eye on some of the key industries in India. One of them being the amusement industry. Also, being fortunate enough to travel to some of the most exciting amusement centers across the globe, I had it in my subconscious to venture into this segment at some point in life. On further observation, what drew my attention was how over the years the standard of living and spending capacity of an average individual in India, belonging to the middle class & upper middle class segment had improved to a considerate level. Putting together my expertise and observations I realized my goal of returning back to India and starting my own venture. And that is when I made a decision of letting go an enticing placement offer that would fetch me more than 100 grands. Back then there were not many companies in India who combined technology with creativity and created something interesting to amuse and entertain families. Also, there weren’t many successful businesses who were working on simulation products. Thus we decided to fill in the void in the form Modern Mastiii. This business of serving happiness to people with the use of technology attracts me and drives me to innovate and create more number of amusement products & centers. What is Modern Group all about? Modern Group is not only a leading maker of technology and simulation based products for the amusement industry but is also one of the prominent operators of FECs across cities in India. Hence, Modern Mastiii as a group is elemental in two segments: Manufacturing of amusement equipment Retail operations of amusement/ FECs Modern Mastiii manufactures products that form a salient feature of 5D/7D/9D theatres, Virtual Reality gaming products, Virtual Reality based content and RFID solutions. Simultaneously Modern Mastiii owns the following chains of retail entertainment outlets: Mastiii Zone – a chain of gaming zones (8 locations in India) Mastiii 7D – a chain of 7D theatres (15 locations in India) Snow Mastiii – indoor snow parks (1 under operation & 2 under fitting) What is your business’ original Vision and Mission? Belonging to a business oriented family, it has been engrained into me to begin anything in life with a clear vision and follow it by a realistic mission. Our group is into multiple businesses and the mission and vision for our business in the amusement HELLOBIZ NOV 2017 | 29