Red Bull India’s Under My Wiiings mentorship program wrapped up last week in Pune, giving 20 aspiring professional Valorant players two days of direct access to Ankit “V3nom” Panth. The sessions ran March 28-29 at the Ministry of Esports Cafe, covering competitive fundamentals, career guidance, and live scrims with real-time feedback from one of Indian esports’ most experienced figures.
This was not a tournament. It was not a content activation. It was a structured mentorship program built around a problem that V3nom has been talking about for years: India’s PC esports scene has almost no formal pathway for aspiring players to learn from professionals who have actually competed at the top level.
What actually happened across two days
The program split into theory and practice. Day one focused on decision-making, communication, and the mental fundamentals of competitive play. V3nom ran sessions where participants could ask him anything, from in-game behaviour and team coordination to how to deal with parental pressure around pursuing esports as a career.
Day two shifted to gameplay. Participants played scrims alongside V3nom, receiving real-time coaching and feedback during matches. Simar “psy” Sethi, a Valorant player with competitive experience, also attended to guide the group.
Beyond the gameplay sessions, V3nom covered the business side of esports. He walked participants through content creation as a career path, the importance of building a personal brand, and the different revenue streams available to players who want to make gaming sustainable long-term. For most attendees, this was likely the first time someone with 17 years of competitive experience sat down and explained what a real career in Indian esports actually looks like, not just the highlight reels but the financial planning, the brand deals, and the grind between tournaments.
One attendee traveled from Dehradun specifically for the program. “There hasn’t been any event like this where I’ve learned so much,” they said. “It made the community feel so honored.”
India’s mobile esports ecosystem has structure. BGMI has Krafton-backed leagues, transfer windows, and a clear competitive ladder. Valorant has VCT Pacific and domestic circuits. But below the top tier, aspiring PC esports players in India operate in a vacuum. There are no widespread coaching programs. No academies. No structured pathway from “I’m decent at Valorant” to “I’m competing professionally.”
V3nom has been vocal about this gap for years. In a 2023 interview with Gaming Amigos, he said: “While things have evolved, aspiring esports athletes still lack structured mentorship on how to navigate this ecosystem.” Under My Wiiings was designed to address exactly that.
The program’s scale was deliberately small. Twenty players, not two hundred. That constraint meant each participant got meaningful face time with V3nom rather than sitting in an audience watching a panel discussion. For a first edition, keeping it tight was the right call.
V3nom’s credibility makes this work
Plenty of brands run gaming events. Most of them are marketing activations dressed up as community programs. What separates Under My Wiiings is V3nom himself.
Ankit Panth started playing Counter-Strike in a cafe in Kandivali, Mumbai, over 17 years ago. He captained Team Brutality through CS 1.6 and CS:GO. He became India’s first Red Bull gaming athlete in 2019. He has been a brand ambassador for Alienware and Intel. He also DJs, which is how he funded his first gaming PC.
V3nom’s influence extends beyond PC titles. He was also present at the Krafton India Awards 2025 ceremony earlier this year, a sign of how deeply connected he remains across the Indian esports ecosystem. That background matters because when V3nom tells a 19-year-old aspiring Valorant player how to handle parents who think gaming is a waste of time, he is speaking from direct experience. His own parents initially thought he was gambling or stealing when he brought home gaming peripherals from tournament wins. He had to show them articles written about him before they started taking it seriously. That story resonates with almost every aspiring Indian esports player in 2026.
V3nom competed professionally from 2008 to 2019. He has seen Indian esports go from 500-rupee prize pools to Rs 4 Crore BGIS Grand Finals. He understands both sides, the grind of building a career when no infrastructure exists and the current reality where infrastructure is forming but still incomplete for PC titles.
Red Bull has been in Indian esports for years. They run Campus Clutch (Valorant), Mobile Esports Open (BGMI), and Flick (CS). They sponsor V3nom and Techno Gamerz. Their branding is present at most major Indian gaming events.
Under My Wiiings fits a different slot. It is not a competition. It is not designed to generate millions of views. It is a grassroots investment in player development at the pre-professional level. For Red Bull, the return is brand equity with a generation of players who will remember that their first real mentorship experience came through a Red Bull program.
Whether this becomes a recurring series or stays a one-off depends on how Red Bull measures its impact. The format works. The mentor is credible. The gap in the market is real. Expanding it to other cities, other games, or other mentors from the Indian esports scene would be the logical next step.
What comes next
The press release does not mention follow-up editions. But the structure of the program, small group, specific game focus, credible mentor, practical gameplay sessions, is replicable. V3nom has the network and the credibility to run this in Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, or Hyderabad with the same format and similar results.
Indian PC esports needs more of this. Not more tournaments (there are plenty of those). Not more content activations (there are plenty of those too). It needs structured programs that connect experienced professionals with the next generation of players in a way that actually transfers knowledge. Under My Wiiings did that for 20 players in Pune. The question is whether it scales.
Frequently asked questions
What is Red Bull Under My Wiiings?
A mentorship program by Red Bull India that connects aspiring professional gamers with veteran esports athlete Ankit “V3nom” Panth. The first edition focused on Valorant and ran March 28-29, 2026, at the Ministry of Esports Cafe in Pune.
Who is V3nom?
Ankit “V3nom” Panth is India’s first Red Bull gaming athlete. He competed professionally in Counter-Strike from 2008 to 2019, captained Team Brutality, and has been a brand ambassador for Alienware and Intel. He has over 17 years of experience in Indian esports.
How many players participated?
Twenty aspiring professional Valorant players were selected for the two-day program.
What did the program cover?
Day one focused on competitive fundamentals like decision-making and communication, plus career guidance on handling parental pressure and building a sustainable esports career. Day two featured scrims with V3nom and real-time gameplay feedback. The program also covered content creation and personal branding.
Will there be more editions of Under My Wiiings?
Red Bull has not announced follow-up editions yet. The format is designed to be replicable across other cities and games.
