MUMBAI: Sports technology company Dream Sports, which has fantasy sports platform Dream11, multisports aggregator platform FanCode and sports accelerator program DreamX in its portfolio, has raised $225 million in primary and secondary investment led by Tiger Global Management, TPG Tech Adjacencies (TTAD), ChrysCapital and Footpath Ventures at a reported valuation of over $2.5 billion.
For the record, the valuation of the Mumbai-headquartered technology unicorn in April 2019 was $1.1 billion, so if the figure is correct, there has been a 127% rise in the value of the enterprise in just the last 18 months.
Dream11 recently won the title sponsorship of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 with a winning bid of Rs 2.22 billion ($30 million).
“The sports sector has high growth potential in India. There is a significant opportunity to enhance the fan experience and we are excited to partner with Dream Sports to leverage technology in ways that will deepen the connection between Indian fans and the sports they love,” said Akshay Tanna, managing director, TPG.
“Dream Sports is the largest and fastest-growing Sports Tech platform in the country with a phenomenal track record. ChrysCapital is excited to be a part of their vision to transform the way sport is consumed through technology and innovation,” said Kshitij Sheth, vice president, ChrysCapital.
Talking about the deal, Harsh Jain, CEO and co-founder, Dream Sports, said, “We are excited to welcome our new partners, who share our passion for sports and have extensive experience in building highly valuable tech companies in India. As a homegrown Indian company, we are proud to continue adding value to our 10 crore (100 million) Indian sports fans, investors, employees and the overall sports ecosystem in India. In the last two years, we have grown beyond fantasy sports to sports content, merchandise, streaming, experiences, and there is much more to come. Our vision is to ‘Make Sports Better’ for India and Indian fans through sports technology and innovation.”
While Jain’s claim of Dream11 having a user base of 100 million is unverified, it is also pertinent to note that fantasy sports is still facing some regulatory hurdles in many parts of India. A number of Indian states, including Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha, Sikkim and Telangana, have banned fantasy sports platforms, clubbing them under the betting category.
Delighted about the rapid growth of the company and industry, Bhavit Sheth, COO and co-founder, Dream Sports, said: “We welcome our new partners in this phase of our growth. We have grown from one to many brands and from 200 Sportans (employees of Dream Sports) to 450 in the last two years. I am proud of our lean yet highly efficient team that has been the driving force behind the creation of ‘Sports Tech’ as a new industry category in India.”
Avendus Capital was the exclusive financial advisor to Dream Sports on the transaction.
