Get All Access for $5/mo

Rario Raises $120 Million In Series A Funding Round With Dream Capital's investment, Rario gets access to Dream Sports' 140 million users, who will be offered FIAT-only products in India, with the potential to create the largest cricket NFT platform globally

By Saptak Bardhan

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.

Company

Rario on Thursday announced a $120 million Series A funding round led by Dream Capital. Rario has the largest share of cricket NFT rights globally through exclusive partnerships with six international cricket leagues and a roster of over 900 cricketers. With Dream Capital's investment, Rario gets access to Dream Sports' 140 million users, who will be offered FIAT-only products in India, with the potential to create the largest cricket NFT platform globally. Alpha Wave Global also participated in the round, and joins existing investors Animoca Brands, Presight Capital, and Kingsway Capital.

"Cricket is the 2nd largest sport in the world with more than 1.5 billion fans globally. NFTs are creating new forms of engagement allowing fans to own and trade digital collectibles. Rario's global cricket NFT ecosystem will be further strengthened by the 140 million sports fans on Dream Sports," said, Ankit Wadhwa, Co-Founder & CEO, Rario

Non-fungible tokens, better known as NFTs have become a buzzword. Digital assets are amongst popular investment avenues in recent times. The global NFT market is expected to grow from $14.02 billion in 2021 to $21.33 billion in 2022 at a compounded annual growth rate of 52.1 per cent.

"DreamCap is glad to partner with Rario to help sports fans engage deeper with their favorite players and teams. Web3 use cases in sports are transformational, and we are looking to back more startups in the space globally with innovative utilities of NFTs," said Dev Bajaj, chief strategy officer, Dream Sports.

The Singapore-based company, founded in 2021 by IIT Delhi alumni Ankit Wadhwa and Sunny Bhanot, has recently signed one of the world's largest cricket NFT deals; a multi-year exclusive partnership with Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers' Association to create an Australian cricket metaverse of collectibles and gaming. Rario enables fans to engage as a community, giving them a chance to own a piece of cricket history through digital collectibles across player cards, video moments, and cricket artifacts. Through Rario, Indian sports fans can buy, sell, and trade NFTs through FIAT-only mediums - credit cards, debit cards, and bank transfers. Since 2021, Rario has sold over 50,000 NFTs to sports fans across 20 countries with the USA, UK, Australia, and India as its top 4 markets.

Saptak Bardhan

Former Trainee Writer

Former Trainee Writer
News and Trends

Multiples Private Equity Leads INR 1000 Cr Funding in Shubham Housing

With the raised funds, the Gurugram-based platform aims to propel its growth trajectory, diversifying its product offerings and strengthening its national footprint.

News and Trends

Amazon Enters India's Booming Quick Commerce Market with Tez

Amazon Tez will first launch as a pilot program, allowing the company to refine its operations before scaling up across the country.

News and Trends

Amazon To Invest $120 Million in India, Create Jobs

This amount will be invested in startups that digitize consumer goods manufacturing in India and cater to domestic and global demand, creating thousands of jobs

News and Trends

Recur Club Announces Credit Offerings for Startups Beyond Series A and SMEs

In FY 24–25, the platform also plans to deploy an additional INR 2000 crores through its Recur Swift program for startups.

News and Trends

More Funding Needed for Startups, AI to be Significant in the Future

Significant resources and funding is needed to create a strong impact in the startup ecosystem artificial intelligence (AI) starts to play a more significant role, Vineet Rai, Founder and Chairman of Aavishkar said on the sidelines of the recently-concluded Sankalp Bharat Summit in Varanasi.

News and Trends

Three Things Yuval Noah Harari Warns About Artificial Intelligence

Warning against complacency, Harari urged stakeholders to act decisively to steer AI toward empowerment and collaboration rather than control and exploitation