Dream11, has announced the completion of a secondary investment by Steadview Capital, an Asia-focused alternative asset manager. This investment marks Dream11’s entry into the ‘Unicorn Club’ as the first Indian gaming company to achieve this milestone.
Apart from Steadview Capital, Kalaari Capital, Think Investments, Multiples Equity and Tencent are the other marquee investors in Dream11. 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 CAGR of ~230 per cent over a period of three years.
Commenting on this development Dream11 CEO and co-founder Harsh Jain said, “We are excited to welcome Steadview Capital onboard. 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.”
Commenting on this development Steadview Capital, managing director Ravi Mehta, said, “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.”
Commenting on this development Dream11 COO and co-founder Bhavit Sheth said, “We are looking forward to working with the Steadview Capital team in providing the best sports experience to fans. I am proud of the fact that a lean yet highly efficient team of just 200 Dreamsters have been the driving force behind our rapid growth.”
Existing Investor quotes on Dream11 becoming a ‘Unicorn’:
Kalaari Capital founder and managing director Vani Kola said, ”A Startup is shaped by the spirit of the founders. At Dream11 that is obvious in everything, the aggressive scale, focused execution, customer centricity, employee well being. Becoming the latest unicorn is indeed a proud moment but I expect the Dream11 team to push sports engagement to new heights. Kalaari is glad to have been a part from the beginning of their journey.“
Think Investment, founder and CIO Shashin Shah, said, “Harsh and Bhavit have done an incredible job of maintaining a great culture while guiding the business through hypergrowth. Dream11 is now the world’s largest fantasy sports game and is paving the way for Indian companies to build truly global consumer tech businesses.”
Multiples Equity managing director Sumit Sinha said, “At Dream11, we are excited to partner with a really top quality team to drive a shift in how people engage with sports. We are at the beginning of something really big here as this platform becomes synonymous with sports engagement over time.”
