Mobile Premier League raises $95 million in Series D round of funding; nears unicorn status

Gaming startup Mobile Premier League (MPL) has raised $95 million in Series D round of funding led by Composite Capital and Moore Strategic Ventures. The round also saw the participation of Base Partners, RTP Global, SIG, Go-Ventures, Telstra Ventures, Founders Circle and Play Ventures in the round taking its total fundraising to $225.5 million.

The investment also led to over 2X jump in its valuation from around $400 million in September 2020’s $90 million round. The latest valuation of MPL stood at $945 million, the company said, taking it to the near unicorn status.

Currently, Dream 11 is the only gaming unicorn in the country.

MPL said it has more than 60 million users in India and over 3.5 million users in Indonesia. The startup offers more than 50 games across categories and has worked with 28 game developers to publish their games on the platform. The latest investment will be deployed towards expanding its eSports portfolio and organising digital tournaments along with the company’s international expansion this year. MPL had organised the digital sports festival College Premier League in 2020, with Rs 1 crore in prizes and scholarships.

 “The esports community in India is thriving, and we believe this is the perfect time to take Indian-made games to the world as well as help Indian gamers get recognized for their talent,” Sai Srinivas, Co-Founder, and CEO, MPL said in a statement. The startup had raised $500,000 last week from existing employees under its Employee Investment Plan, which saw participation from 10 percent of the company’s employees. Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli had invested in MPL in February 2019 even as the company became the BCCI’s official kit sponsor and merchandise partner in November 2020.

Virat Kohli has been named as MPL’s brand ambassador in March 2019.