Dream11 enters unicorn club with investment from Steadview Capital
New Delhi: Dream11, online gaming firm, on Tuesday announced the completion of a secondary investment by Steadview Capital, an Asia-focused alternative asset manager. The investment takes Dream11’s valuation at over $1 billion making it first Indian gaming company to enter the Unicornclub.
“We are excited to welcome Steadview Capital on board. Our exponential growth over the past few years would not have been possible without the support and trust of our investors and Dreamsters (employees). Providing great returns to our shareholders, whether investors or Dreamsters, is very important to us and further reinforces their belief in Dream11. We will keep working hard and are targeting to end the year with 100 million users,” said Harsh Jain, chief executive and co-founder, Dream11 in a statement.
As per the IFSG-KPMG report, in terms of total user base on a fantasy sports platform, Dream11 is the market leader with over 50 million users. Its user base has grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 230% over a period of three years.
“We, at Steadview, believe that Dream11 is poised to become the leading sports company in India catering to everything a sports fan needs. We think very highly of the visionary founders and are excited to partner with the team in this journey. The company’s phenomenal growth track-record, dominant leadership in daily fantasy gaming and strong engagement metrics is a testament to the consumer love for the platform,” said Ravi Mehta, managing director, Steadview Capital.
Apart from Steadview Capital, Kalaari Capital, Think Investments, Multiples Equity and Tencent are the other investors in the company.
Founded by Harsh Jain and Bhavit Sheth, Dream11, allows users to create virtual teams for cricket, kabaddi, football, among other sports and help them to organise matches based on statistical performance of players in the actual game. Dream11’s growth trajectory however was plagued with legal challenges, due to fantasy gaming’s likeness to gambling, which is largely illegal in India. Its legitimacy was challenged in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The court, however, ruled that fantasy gaming involves skill rather than chance in April last year.
The fantasy gaming firm, which is endorsed by Indian cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni, has signed a four-year partnership with the BCCI which has started with IPL 2019.
Apart from IPL, Dream11 has been associated with International Council of Cricket (ICC), Pro Kabaddi League (PKL), Indian Super League (ISL), National Basketball Association (NBA), Caribbean Premier League (CPL), International Hockey Federation (FIH) and Big Bash League (BBL).
[“source=livemint”]
