Dream11 becomes India’s first gaming unicorn

• The gaming startup has announced a secondary investment from Steadview Capital.
• The 11-year-old startup has over 50 million users and aims to have 100 million by the end of 2019.
• Its existing investors include Kalaari Capital, Think Investments & Multiples Equity.

Indian gaming startup Dream11 has entered the prestigious unicorn club. The startup announced a secondary investment from Steadview Capital, an Asia-focused alternative asset manager.

Steadview Capital comes on board by buying secondary shares from Dream11’s existing investors Kalaari Capital, Think Investments & Multiples Equity. The existing investors will continue to stay on board. Secondary investments are when the new investor purchases shares from sources other than the issuer (employees, former employees, or investors).

India now has over 15 unicorns, which are startups with the valuation of over $1 billion. The new additions include Delhivery and BigBasket.

The 11-year-old startup has made it big in the Indian gaming space with over 50 million users and is also the official partner of the Indian Premier League - the cricket league which brought them most of their users.

According to the company’s official release, Dream11’s user base has grown at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 230% over a period of three years.

“Providing great returns to our shareholders, whether investors or Dreamsters (employees), 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,” said Harsh Jain, CEO and Co-Founder, Dream11.

The startup has a busy time ahead with the ongoing IPL and the upcoming cricket World Cup.

At Dream11, it was a dream come true after multiple years of hard work.

In an earlier interview with Business Insider, Bhavit Sheth, COO and co-founder, Dream11 had spoken about their journey so far. “As 22-year-olds we started this business, engineers who didn't know anything about business. We didn't even in our wildest imagination think that we will have over 52 million users in such a short time, with only a team of over 200 managing them and be at this scale,” said Sheth.

See Also:
2019 may be the biggest year for this 11-year old Indian gaming startup
Gaming startup Dream11 strikes gold as the official partner of IPL