Harsha Bhogle-backed Fantasy Akhada raises Rs 5 crore through Prime Securities

• The startup will infuse the funding in strengthening tech capabilities, user acquisition, and improving user retention on the platform.
• Fantasy Akhada also plans to expand to other sports like Basketball and Kabaddi.
• To date, it has raised around $1 million in its funding rounds.

Gurgaon-based fantasy sports platform Fantasy Akhada has raised Rs 5 crore ($673K) in a new funding round led by N Jayakumar, Managing Director of Prime Securities Limited, an investment banking boutique firm.

Fantasy Akhada will infuse the funding in strengthening technology capabilities, user acquisition, and improving user retention on its digital platform, the statement said. It is also planning to add more sports like Basketball and Kabaddi on its platform.

Prior to this, Harsha Bhogle, an Indian cricket commentator, had also invested an undisclosed amount in Fantasy Akhada. The announcement comes at a time when the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 tournament is about to start this week. Following the current round, The startup's total funding amount now stands at around $1 million.

Founded in January 2020 by Amit Purohit, Fantasy Akhada is a platform that allows users to play games like cricket and football and win exciting prizes and money. It claims to have 3+ lakh registered users with a user retention rate of 30%.

The platform aims to make itself the go-to destination for all Fantasy Sports users this IPL and will announce cash prizes to users as part of IPL Leaderboards, it said.

Commenting on the development, Amit Purohit, said, “The entire team of Fantasy Akhada is super excited to partner with Prime Securities in its journey of making India a nation truly engaged in sports.

"The next two years will see a marquee T20 tournament every six months and we aim to speed up our growth journey and Prime Securities is the best partner we could have asked for in this phase.”

“The company ‘Focus on Customer Delight’ is our No. 1 priority and we aim to provide sports fans in India with a platform where they can enjoy sports and fantasy sports like never before," he added.

Also Read: Fantasy Sports Dream11 Raises $225M Led By Tiger Global And Others At A Valuation Of $2.5B

Speaking on the investment, N Jayakumar, said, “Fantasy Akhada’s customer-centricity and focus on the minutest details to enrich customer experience, positions the platform perfectly, as they enhance their offerings over the immediate future. Having studied several business models in this industry, we believe that merely burning money to acquire customers is not a long term, sustainable solution for any player in this industry, an ethos that Fantasy Akhada truly embraces."

It competes with other sports fantasy platforms such as Dream11, MPL, Paytm First Game, Sports Junki, MyTeam11, among others.

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