Fantasy Akhada Raises Pre-Series A Funding The startup will use the funds to focus on enhancing the in–house tech capability, be aggressive with their user acquisition and retention strategies, and scaling up the organization
By Prabhjeet Bhatla •
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Gurugram-based online fantasy sports platform Fantasy Akhada, on Wednesday, announced to have secured about $2 million in a pre–Series A round. The financing round was led by Prime Securities, Team India Managers Limited, and existing investors which included a group of highly successful professionals, including JyotivardhanJaipuria, the family of Harsha Bhogle (cricket commentator), Sunil Sood (Vodafone), and Atul Kasbekar (photographer/producer). Nikunj Doshi (Bay Capital) also participated in this round in his personal capacity.
Prime Securities Limited was an exclusive Investment Banker to this transaction.
The startup will use the funds to focus on enhancing the in–house tech capability, be aggressive with their user acquisition and retention strategies, and scaling up the organization.
"We are absolutely delighted to welcome our new set of investors. Prime Securities has been a true partner for us over the last 6 months and we could have not asked for a better Investment Banker on board in this journey. We will be leveraging this fundraise to drive our vision of enhancing sports engagement in sports fans and the entire team is absolutely kicked about this development, at the most opportune moment, just before the heavy-duty T20 cricket season," said Amit Purohit, founder, Fantasy Akhada.
Fantasy Akhada has seen growth over the last 6 months after their fundraise in the month of April 2021. The user base has doubled over this period to touch almost 6 lakhs and the Annualized Gross Gaming Revenues have seen a 21-time growth on the back of intelligent user acquisition and retention techniques. During this period, Fantasy Akhada has also been visible on top sports channels like Star Sports and Sony Sports Network, with properties like the English Premier League and the Indian Women Cricket Team's tour of Australia.
"At Prime, we like to identify high growth potential early-stage companies and partner with them. Fantasy Akhada has been one such example, where we had recently raised about $1 million in April 2021. The operational metrics have outperformed even the best-case scenarios of the management team, accelerating the estimates by 18 months. This phenomenal growth has led to the current round in a matter of six months backed by Prime's network of HNIs and family offices. Given the understanding of the user life cycle and user experience that the team has, we are certain that they will be able to carve out a clear niche for themselves in this rapidly developing ecosystem," added Nischay Saraf, senior vice president, early-stage financing, Prime Securities.
