BENGALURU: Online gaming company Dream Sports on Monday said that it has raised $225 million in a fresh funding round led by American private equity giant TigerGlobal, in which other other investors such as TPG Tech Adjacencies (TTAD), ChrysCapital and Footpath Ventures also participated.
The current funding has valued DreamSports at $2.5 billion, almost double the valuation of $1.1 billion a year ago. Dream Sports has a number of sports tech platforms, including fantasy gaming start-up Dream11, under its portfolio. Dream11 recently won the title sponsorship for the Indian PRemier League 2020 with a bid of $32 million.
Currently, DreamSports is the only sports tech start-up in the elite unicorn club in India, which is dominated by e-commerce, digital payments, edtech, and mobility companies. “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,” Akshay Tanna, managing director, TPG said.
Dream11’s title sponsorship for IPL 2020 was a closely contested battle, with edtech majors Upgrad and Unacademy also reportedly fighting for the same. According to business intelligence platform, paper.vc, the current secondary investment in Dream11 appears to be due a stake sale by Tencent, since the Chinese firm has run into trouble with the Indian government, reducing it’s stake to single digits. “In the last two years, we have grown beyond fantasy sports to sports content, merchandise, streaming, experiences, and there is much more to come,” Harsh Jain, CEO, Dream Sports said.