Dream11 wins IPL 2020 sponsorship – India’s first gaming unicorn bags the rights for ₹222 crore

• Dream11 has won the IPL 2020 sponsorship.
• For the fantasy gaming startup Dream11, IPL has always been its money making machine.
• Earlier, Indian Premier League had suspended the contract with Chinese giant Vivo.

India’s first gaming unicorn Dream11 bags IPL sponsorship for ₹222 crore, IPL Chairman Brijesh Patel told news agency PTI . Earlier, Indian Premier League had suspended the contract with Chinese giant Vivo. This year, the IPL is set to take place in UAE.

Four companies — Tata Group, Dream11, Byju's and Unacademy — had bid for the title sponsorship rights for IPL 2020 after Vivo withdrew earlier this year.

In 2019, the Board of Control for Cricket in India had declared Dream11 as the official partner for fantasy games for IPL.

The 12-year old startup founded by Harsh Jain and Bhavit Sheth had become India’s first gaming unicorn in April 2019. Its investors include Chinese giant Tencent, Kalaari Capital, private equity firm Multiples Alternate Asset Management and Steadview Capital.

IPL has always been Dream11’s lucky charm

For the fantasy gaming startup Dream11, IPL has always been its money making machine. When in 2014, Dream11 raised its first round of funding they still had just 300,000 users. But thanks to the popularity of the IPL, today they have over 75 million users.

In fact, after signing former Indian cricket team captain MS Dhoni as their brand ambassador, just during the 2018 IPL their user base went from 20 million to 40 million.Their initial 10 million users were dominated by Tier 1 cities but now 50% of their traffic comes from Tier 2,3 and 4 cities.

Until 2019, Dream11 claimed that its user base grew at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 230% over three years.

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