Indian Esports Fantasy Startup FanClash Raises $40M USD to Expand Globally
Esports fantasy company FanClash has raised $40M USD in its latest round of funding to expand its operations globally, building the team and acquiring users. After launching its operations in India in 2021 and the Philippines in 2022, FanClash is currently looking to expand its operations to Vietnam and the USA by early 2023.
The first round of investments saw FanClash raise $10M USD from Sequoia Capital India, Falcon Edge (Alpha Wave Ventures) and Info Edge India in August 2021. Existing investors along with Matic Networks (Polygon) co-led the latest Series B fundraise.
Esports fans spend 8-10 hours a week watching events
FanClash stated that there are 500M core esports viewers globally, growing at 20% CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate). In India, this number stands at 100M and is expected to grow threefold by 2025. The company leverages the popularity of esports and the knowledge of hardcore fans on its platform.
Esports fans around the world spend about 8-10 hours a week watching tournaments and gameplay, yet there are not enough avenues for players and viewers to monetize their knowledge in any way. Our customers love FanClash not only because it gives them the opportunity to compete in fantasy games, but also for making them financially independent and hence taken seriously as esports fans.”Risabh Bhansali, Co-founder of FanClash
We aspire to be a household name in the global gaming community. This is possible in esports, unlike traditional sports, because the underlying game titles have a global audience."Richa Singh, Co-founder of FanClash
Through the FanClash app, fans can test their knowledge of esports by participating in fantasy contests, similar to the Fantasy Premier League in the world of soccer. FanClash users can build their dream teams by participating in several contests featuring popular esports titles like Dota 2, PUBG, Valorant, Free Fire, COD Mobile, CS:GO. Users start by creating a team picking out players who they think would perform the best in a particular contest. Depending on the performance of the players in the real-world live tournaments, users can earn points which can then be converted to real-world currency.
Online gaming has over 300 million users in India and esports has hit an inflection point with over 100 million Indian viewers. The online gaming market is also monetising well and is on track to surpass $5 billion in revenues by 2025. Going after this opportunity, FanClash is building an exciting new destination for esports fans with an incredible product that is loved by its users.”Rajan Anandan, Managing Director of Sequoia India
FanClash was founded by students of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharapgpur and Indian Institute of Management (Ahmedabad), and its core members have been part of organizations like Zomato, PayTM, Samsung and Amazon. The fantasy esports platform was launched in 2021 and the co-owners are looking to push FanClash’s presence to a global level.
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