MUMBAI: UTV announced yesterday that its MD of Disney UTV’s Digital division, Vishal Gondal has put in his papers.

Gondal was the founder and CEO of Indiagames, a company that was eventually acquired by UTV in 2006, and is now part of the Disney UTV franchise. Gondal has reportedly left to pursue his entrepreneurial aspirations, and will be launching his own business firm.

Gondal said in a statement, “Indiagames had small beginnings but a big dream. I cannot help but look back with a tremendous sense of fulfilment and pride, upon the long, eventful and exciting journey. I am really proud of what the team has accomplished. Excellent support from our early investors Infinity, IL&FS, TOM Online, Adobe, Cisco & UTV & the subsequent acquisition by Walt Disney provided us the opportunity to work towards our vision of making gaming big in India.”

Spelling out his future plans, Gondal said, “Over last 18 months, we have spent time integrating the teams & set a platform for continued growth. Consequently, I’ve decided to move on to pursue my dreams & passion of being an entrepreneur.”

Vishal Gondal will be replaced by Sameer Ganapathy, who was handling distribution for UTV’s media network business. MD Disney UTV Ronnie Screwvala was sad to see Gondal go, but acknowledged his tremendous contribution to the company.

“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, OEM’s and others. This is similar to our approach in our other verticals of movies, broadcasting and consumer products. 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,” said Screwvala.

Gondal’s last day at work will be 30 June, 2013.