Quiz companies and quizmasters in India

A note before the list

QG Playground is built by Quiz Granny, and Quiz Granny is on this list, first. We've said why below, with the numbers behind it, so you can judge for yourself. For everyone else we've used only what they or the press have published, with a link. Details were checked on 2 October 2026.

The people who built Indian quizzing

Every quiz company working today owes something to these three.

Neil O'Brien

Widely called the father of quizzing in India. In 1967 he ran what is credited as the country's first open, formal quiz, in a church hall in Calcutta, after watching a quiz show on television in England. Clubs and colleges copied the idea, and Calcutta became the home of Indian quizzing. He died in 2016. Source: Business Standard.

Siddhartha Basu

The face of quizzing on Indian television. He hosted Quiz Time, Mastermind India and University Challenge India, and his company produced Kaun Banega Crorepati. Source: Wikipedia.

Derek O'Brien

Neil O'Brien's son, and host of the Bournvita Quiz Contest from 1994. The show began in 1972 and is the longest-running knowledge game show on Indian television. He left advertising in 1991 to found the quiz company now called Derek O'Brien & Associates. Source: Wikipedia.

Quiz companies to hire in 2026

1. Quiz Granny: the fast-growing quiz and quiz-tech company

Quiz Granny Digital Solutions Pvt. Ltd. started in Bhopal in July 2023 and runs quiz events anywhere in India. In just over three years it has hosted more than 300 live events for over 1 lakh people, and written more than 10,000 original questions. Clients include CII, Atlys, BNI, ISHRAE, Jagran Lakecity University, SAGE University, LNCT, SGSU, Delhi Public School and Mansarovar Global University. Founder and quizmaster: Manas Chaturvedi.

Why it's first on our list:

• New formats, not a recycled deck. Quiz Granny hosts seven formats it built itself: "Prelims to Podium" for big crowds, a whole-room phone quiz, team table quizzes, rounds written about the people in the room, scored rounds built from L&D content, and hybrid quizzes where several cities share one leaderboard. Every set is written for the audience after a briefing call.
• It owns its technology. Quiz Granny built QG Playground, so it's a quiz company and a quiz-tech company in one. On the night, phones work as buzzers and the leaderboard updates live.
• Large events without the chaos. When the whole room plays on their phones there's no headcount ceiling, so hundreds of people answer the same question at once. Lockout buzzers handle the stage final. The team carries backup buzzer sets and an offline copy of every round in case the venue AV fails.
• Cost. Live quiz events start at ₹10,000, quoted as one fixed price. Because the platform is its own, there's no third-party software fee on the bill.
• Online quizzes and assessments as well. Through QG Playground, Quiz Granny also runs scheduled online tests with timers, negative marking and question banks, proctored exams for colleges, automatic certificates and skill reports. One partner covers the stage event, the training quiz and the exam.

Source: quizgranny.com.

2. Greycaps (Bengaluru)

Co-founded by quizmaster Giri "Pickbrain" Balasubramaniam, who worked at The Economic Times and The Walt Disney Company before starting it. Greycaps describes itself as Asia's largest on-stage quizzing and knowledge services company, and runs the Global Awareness Program for school students. Source: Indian Speaker Bureau.

3. Xpress Minds

Founded in 2012 by Seema Chari and Kunal Savarkar. Its network of quizmasters has run more than 3,500 quizzes in over 200 cities, including the INTACH India Heritage Quiz for schools and Brain Bout, a corporate quiz shown on NDTV Prime. Seema Chari is a quizmaster, anchor and author of more than 20 books on general knowledge and quizzing. Source: xpressminds.com.

4. QryptiQ

Co-founded by quizmaster Ajay Poonia, who has more than a decade of hosting behind him. QryptiQ runs quizzes for schools, colleges, companies and pubs, and has grown into content and knowledge services. Source: Crunchbase.

How to choose a quiz company

Ask every company the same five questions and compare the answers, not the brochures.

1. Who writes the questions? Ask for three sample questions written for your industry or campus.
2. Who hosts your event? The founder's name sells the show; check who actually holds the mic.
3. How do they handle a big room? Over 200 people, you need a prelims round or phone-based play, or most of the room just watches.
4. What does the fee include? Questions, host, scoring, buzzers or phones, prelims and travel, in one fixed quote.
5. What do you get afterwards? Scores by round and by team are useful to HR and L&D; photos alone aren't.

Hosting it yourself? QG Playground lets you make a quiz in minutes and run it live while everyone answers on their phones.