FanClash, Indian fantasy esports startup, raises $40 million – TechCrunch

Every year millions of Indians collect virtual sports teams, and pin their hopes on the players they select to perform very well in real matches. If the predictions are correct, the users earn money.

FanClash, a 2-year-old Indian startup, is trying to bring esports like PUBG Mobile, COD and DOTA 2 into this fantasy sports world. Investors expect this model and the FanClash team to deliver, and on Friday said they have pumped $40 million in new funding into the startup.

Alpha Wave Global, formerly Falcon Edge Capital, led FanClash’s Series B funding round. Sequoia Capital India, Info Edge and Polygon also participated in the tour. FanClash previously raised $10.5 million, including $10 million in Series A.

As is common across cricket companies and fantasy sports arising from football, on FanClash, users compete against each other across many popular titles, including Counter Strike: Go, FreeFire and League of Legends, by selecting their favorite players and creating component teams.

Tens of millions of Indians watch and play esports. As the appetite for daily fantasy sports grows among fans, startups are increasingly looking to build multi-billion dollar opportunities. But unlike cricket followers, who can use platforms like Mobile Premier League and Dream11 to earn rewards through prediction, esports fans who want to invest their skills and knowledge have not been presented before, said Richa Singh, co-founder and CEO of FanClash, In an interview with TechCrunch.

“We focus only on core esports tournaments. We are not looking at casual games. Our thesis is that the world is witnessing the emergence of a new type of sport, and when there is a new sport, there will be a data layer and a fantasy layer built on top of it.” “These esports have a greater following than cricket, but they lack the data and the imaginative layers.”

Singh declined to reveal how many customers FanClash has collected, but said the startup has grown rapidly since launching the eponymous service early last year, and is clearly “the largest fantasy esports company in India”.

“Online gaming has more than 300 million users in India, and esports has reached an inflection point with over 100 million Indian viewers,” Rajan Anandan, managing director of Sequoia India and Southeast Asia, said in a statement.

“The online gaming market is also generating good income and is on track to cross $5 billion in revenue by 2025. With this opportunity, FanClash is building an exciting new destination for esports enthusiasts with an amazing product loved by its users.”

FanClash considers India as its largest market and has begun to explore international expansion. Singh said it was an experience in the Philippines.

“We aspire to be a household name in the global gaming community. On a broader level, our vision is to make the Indian startup ecosystem proud by creating a ‘global digital product from India, for the world’ and we believe we have the right ingredients to become world leaders.”

The startup plans to spread the new money to hire talent and scale the platform. “This is why we are making our news public,” she said in the startup’s first media interview.

“Esports has proven to be the next step in the evolution of the gaming industry. This is a global market that continues to have huge unresolved issues around fantasy as well as fan engagement,” said Anirudh Singh, managing director at Alpha Wave Global, in a statement. Global is also one of the biggest supporters of Dream11.

“Using data as a moat, we have been very impressed with the way FanClash has built its gaming platform for global markets. The company has also demonstrated its operational strength in all international markets, while maintaining high capital efficiencies – reflected in industry-leading metrics such as LTV/CAC. We are fortunate to partner with the team and look forward to helping build a global esports platform.