Dream11 Journey: From Fantasy Gaming Startup to IPL 2020 Title Sponsor, Here's A Look At The Rise of The Unicorn

Mumbai, August 19: Dream11, Fantasy gaming startup has bagged the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 title sponsorship rights. Dream11 won the title sponsorship rights with a bid of Rs 222 crore, replacing Vivo for a four and a half month deal.

In India, the online fantasy sports gaming has seen exponential growth over the last three years. To quote, IFSG-KPMG report, the biggest player in this category is Dream11 which commands 90 percent market share.

Here are some interesting facts about Dream11 growth journey: 

• Dream11 was co-founded by Harsh Jain and Bhavit Sheth in 2012. It is an India based app.
• Dream11 is headquartered in the city of Mumbai, Maharashtra.
• In April 2019, Dream11 became the first Indian gaming company to enter the ‘Unicorn Club’.
• In 2014, the company reported 1 million registered users, which grew to 2 million in 2016 and to 4 million in 2018.
• Dream11 was also recognised as one of the top 10 innovative companies in India by Fast Company in 2019.
• China-based App development organisation called Tencent Games had invested in the application in the year 2018.
• On the Dream11 platform, the share of cricket as a sport is 85 percent, and this explains why IPL is an important platform for the brand to be in.

Here's how the game format works:

Dream11 provides a fantasy gaming platform for multiple sports such as cricket, football, basketball, kabaddi, hockey, volleyball, and baseball, handball. Here users create a virtual team of real-life players and earn points based on the performances of these players in real matches. In order to participate in a Dream11 game, a user must be at least 18 years old and needs to get their profile verified using their PAN.