FanClash raises USD 40 million in Series B round

Mumbai: E-sports startup FanClash on Friday said it has raised USD 40 million (about Rs 312 crore) in Series B funding from the existing investors along with Matic Networks (Polygon), which co-led the latest round.

The fresh round of capital is aimed at fuelling the platform's plans to build a global e-sports fantasy, data and fan engagement platform, FanClash said in a release.

This succeeds a Series A round of USD 10 million (about Rs 78 crore) from Sequoia Capital India, Falcon Edge (Alpha Wave Ventures) and Info Edge India in August last year, the startup said.

Founded in mid-2020, FanClash, which started as a fantasy gaming application for all core e-sports viewers, has evolved into Asia's largest e-sports fantasy platform with operations in India and the Philippines.

FanClash released its product in India last year and in the Philippines this month, a company spokesperson said, adding that the platform aims to launch in Vietnam and the US by early next year.

"The company plans to use the funds raised for global expansion, building the team and user acquisition," the spokesperson said.

There are 500 million core e-sports viewers globally, growing at 20 per cent CAGR while, in India, this number stands at 100 million and is expected to grow three-fold by 2025, according to the platform.

"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. At a broader level, our vision is to make the Indian startup ecosystem proud by creating 'a global digital product from India, for the world," said Richa Singh, co-founder of FanClash.

Stating that the online gaming has over 300 million users in India and e-sports has hit an inflection point with over 100 million Indian viewers, Rajan Anandan, MD, Sequoia India, said that this gaming market is also monetising well and is on track to surpass USD 5 billion in revenues by 2025.