MUMBAI: Rooter, the Indian live sports social engagement startup has secured a Rs45 million investment in its pre-Series A round of fund raising from a consortium of investors called Venture Catalysts which included the likes of Aviva Life Insurance’s chief customer marketing and digital officer, Anjali Malhotra, Economic Times reports.
Venture Catalysts is said to invest an amount anywhere between $250,000 and $1 million in those start-up companies that show the potential for creating value during its early stages of existence. With this investment, Rooter will also receive much sought-after mentoring and business networking opportunities from them.
Recently, Germany’s leAD Sports Accelerator program nominated the firm as one of the finalists for its 2018 event in November, which has clearly boosted Rooter’s profile. The owners are looking to use this opportunity to not only expand its global reach and establish themselves further but attract a Series A round of investment prior to the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 next summer in England and Wales.
“This is a precursor to a big Series A round, which we are going to raise on November 12 when we will pitch in front of over 50 investors at the Adidas family-backed 2018 leAD Sports Accelerator Program.
“We have had the singular vision of transforming the sports engagement landscape of India. Since our early days, we have received tremendous support and guidance from the Venture Catalysts’ team on the best ways to achieve this vision. We are delighted that they have shown trust and faith in our business approach yet again.” Piyush Kumar, CEO and co-founder of Rooter told ET.
“During our Investor Pitch Day in Dubai, Rooter was one of the six promising startups selected for capital funding on the back of its disruptive model and how it had altered the way sports fans connect with one another,” Apoorv Ranjan Sharma, president and co-founder at Venture Catalysts said.
“We are pleased to formally come on board as an investor in Rooter and have confidence in the fact that Piyush and his team will leverage the capital invested in the most strategic way to fuel growth and unlock the platform’s full potential.”
Recently, Rooter had raised seed funding from a group of angel investors including Bollywood actor Boman Irani and Anjali Hegde, the co-founder of the digital agency, Interactive Avenues.
Formed in September 2016, Rooter’s rise has been nothing less but meteoric with over 500,000 sports fans across eight sports namely cricket, football, hockey, tennis, basketball, kabaddi, badminton, and F1.
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Rooter selected for 2018 leAD Sports Accelerator program
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