INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
India is one the world's largest markets for game downloads with 840 million installs in JuneMobile Premier League became India's second
gaming unicorn, raising funds at a $2.3 billion valuation after the pandemic drove entertainment-starved consumers toward mobile playing
The Bangalore-based startup, which goes by MPL, raised capital from investors led by Legatum Capital with participation from Accrete Capital
and Gaingels LLC.Existing investors including Moore Strategic Ventures LLC and RTP Global also participated in the round
The startup would not disclose the funding but people familiar with the deal said MPL had raised $150 million.The three-year-old company
connects game publishers with players on its app platform
Users in India, Indonesia and the United States can access dozens of free titles -- ranging from sudoku, speed chess and puzzles to
shooting, fantasy and strategy games -- and participate in gaming contests and prize money tournaments
Its motto to attract enthusiasts: earn money and get famous by playing mobile games.India is one the world's largest markets for game
downloads with 840 million installs in June, according to app metrics firm Sensor Tower
With neighboring China cracking down on its gaming companies, Indian contenders are betting their path for expansion in India and beyond
India's first gaming unicorn and MPL rival Dream11, are noticing the opportunity presented by the country's 400 million gamers
Indians have an affinity to games with financial prizes, something online startups like MPL are wagering big on.MPL had an unusual start
Kiran and fellow founder Shubham Malhotra tested their idea for paid-entry gaming contests by organizing sessions on their apartment's
rooftop -- the initial contestants were cooks employed by the founders and their friends.Each player got a device loaded with the games, and
after each hour-and-a-half long competition their rankings were updated on a blackboard
Word soon got out, and as the number of participants grew the duo introduced a 5-rupee (7 United States cents) entry fee and a
months hit 600,000 daily active users
The app launched just as affordable smartphones, cheap internet data, and reliable digital payment infrastructure were fueling the growth of
mobile gaming.The startup's early backers included Sequoia Capital and Moore Strategic Ventures; Kiran and Malhotra had previously founded
said.In 2019, at just a few months old, the startup spent big to become a broadcast partner for hyper-popular cricket competition Indian
Premier League and signed cricket star Virat Kohli as brand ambassador
The resulting deluge of new sign-ups was so large that MPL's 40-person team struggled to cope.Then came the pandemic, and the founders
But gaming companies, along with streaming services and online retailers, turned out to be the biggest beneficiaries of lockdowns and
stay-at-home restrictions
Companies invested more in gaming in 2020 than in the previous five years combined, according to Girish Menon, Head of Media and
Between March and the end of June -- lockdown months in India -- MPL tripled its users and revenue.Currently, MPL has about 80 million
users, of which about 10 million spend money on the service
In Indonesia, its user count has reached 5 million
In the United States , where it launched in July, it's targeting 300,000 users and over $100 million in gross merchandise value by the end
of the year.The startup plans to keep adding games and expand to half-dozen more geographies within three years
been edited by TheIndianSubcontinent staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
