Bennett Coleman and Company Ltd (BCCL) has announced to invest $5 Million in Starting 11. It is a fantasy football platform. The company is based in Minneapolis, United States of America. BCCL via its strategic investment division, Brand Capital plans to expand operations of Starting 11 in India. This would give a tough competition to the already established brand of Dream 11.
Earlier, Starting 11 had managed to seed funds of $790K. It now plans to use new funds to connect with users in India via Times Group. It plans to utilize Times Group's user connect medium in print, digital and offline front. Starting 11 was founded in 2016 by Teague Orgeman and Amanda Heyman. Being a fantasy sports game for football fans, it allows users to create their squads during real-time matches. It offers real money for its users in countries like the US, UK, Canada, and Germany.
For now the company has launched its version for Android and iOS in India. It is offering free contests for new users in order to develop a constant base. Teague Orgeman, co-founder and CEO of Starting 11 revealed that the company has been sufficiently funded. He is thrilled to have strong support of Brand Capital to expand its business in India.
Neville Taraporewalla, President of Brand Capital International said that active communication of users in the sports category has always been a winner. Moreover, the use of handsets for such applications is another advantage. India has seen a boom in the use of smartphones and internet usage.
According to a recent report from KPMG, fantasy sports in India witnessed a huge growth since 2016. India has 70 such operators until 2018. From 2 Million users in 2016 to growth of 50 million users in 2018, India looks forward to intense growth and competition among these platforms. Dream 11 alone claims to have over 75 million users in its pay and play format.
Girish Menon, partner, and head for Media and Entertainment in KPMG India believes that users across fantasy platforms will cross 100 million marks by 2020. This platform helps a user to deeply connect with their favorite sport and is the potential to create a new ecosystem around it.