In another testament to the scope that online fantasy gaming has, several investors have been lining up to invest in Dream11, a deal which will see its valuation shoot up to $2 to $2.5 billion. The valuation was around $1.1 billion four months ago.
According to an Economic Times report, marquee investors chasing this startup include SoftBank Vision Fund, Naspers Ventures and Tiger Global. The startup counts among its existing shareholders, Tencent Holdings of China apart from Kalaari Capital, Multiples PE, Think Investments and Steadview Capital. Tencent and the others would want to be part of the next round of investment as well, given the opportunity.
People in the know claim that while Dream11 may not be courting any fund raising right now, the investors are ready to write their cheques for as much as $500 million. The initial indication was that the size of the fund raising could be only $300 million. The amount may be split into primary stock selling and secondary share liquidation in the same ratio of 60:40. The promoters may decide to wait it out till early 2020 if they don’t get the valuation they anticipate. None of the parties have officially confirmed of the developments. The two promoters Harsh Jain and Bhavit Sheth together hold around a third of the stakes in Dream11.
Dream11 peaked during the IPL tournament and later used the cricket World Cup frenzy to add customers to its platform. Even today, the startup is said to be adding half a million customers daily. The company had claimed it will want to reach a customer base of 100 million by the end of the year. Against an anticipated revenue of $650 million, by March 2019, Dream11 crossed $1 billion. It is claimed it has crossed $2billion now.