[Funding alert] FanClash raises $40 mn in Series B round

E-sports fantasy startup FanClash has raised $40 million in its Series B funding round from existing investors including Sequoia Capital India, Falcon Edge and Info Edge India along with participation from Matic Networks (Polygon).

The platform plans to use the funds for global expansion, team building and user acquisition.

According to the company, FanClash released its product in India in 2021 and the Philippines in June 2022, and aims to launch in Vietnam and the US in early 2023.

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Gurugram-based FanClash was founded in 2020 by Rishabh Bhansali and Richa Singh, It started its journey as a fantasy gaming application for all core e-sports audiences and has grown into Asia's largest e-sports fantasy platform with operations in India and the Philippines.

“Esports fans around the world spend about 8-10 hours a week watching tournaments and gameplay, yet there are not enough avenues for players and viewers to monetise their knowledge in any way. Our customers love FanClash not only because it gives them the opportunity to compete in fantasy games, but also for making them financially independent and hence taken seriously as esports fans. The industry has corroborated this by the stellar adoption of FanClash in the last 12 months,” said, Rishabh Bhansali, Co-founder of FanClash.

The company provides a platform for fans to not only enjoy the game as a spectator but also empowers them to monetize their esports knowledge. Their users can create their own fantasy team from each tournament and earn rewards based on the real-life performance of the teams.

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The gaming platform enables its users to play fantasy on all global tournaments in top esports like Freefire, PUBG Mobile, COD Mobile, COD PC, Valorant, League of Legends, Dota 2 etc.

“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’ and we believe we have the right ingredients to become world leaders,” said, Richa Singh, Co-founder of FanClash.

Rajan Anandan, MD, Sequoia India, said that the Indian online gaming industry has over 300 million users and e-sports has hit an inflection point with over 100 million Indian viewers.

“The online gaming market is also monetising well and is on track to surpass $5 billion in revenues by 2025. Going after this opportunity, FanClash is building an exciting new destination for esports fans with an incredible product that is loved by its users,” he added.

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“Esports is a large and growing market globally and Fanclash, with its global ambitions, is well positioned to become the global leader in esports fantasy,” said, Kitty Agarwal, Partner, Info Edge Venture Fund.

“Esports have proven to be the next step in the evolution of the gaming industry. This is a global market that still has massive unsolved problems around fantasy as well as fan engagement. Using data as a moat, we were very impressed with the way FanClash has built out its gaming platform for global markets. The company has also shown its execution strength across all international markets, while maintaining high capital efficiency – reflected in the industry leading metrics like LTV/CAC,” said, Anirudh Singh, MD, Alpha Wave Global.

In August 2021, FanClash had raised $10 million in its Series A funding round from Sequoia Capital India, Falcon Edge (Alpha Wave Ventures), and Info Edge India.

About FanClash

FanClash is an esports startup for gamers to compete, access curated content and get their daily dose of thrill by playing fantasy leagues on popular esports from across the globe. From fantasy to tournaments to latest happenings in the gaming world, FanClash is with the gamers on every step of their Esports fandom.

FanClash is committed to revolutionizing the esports fantasy world with thrilling, fair and accessible gameplay. They employ the latest technology and data driven mindset while building for esports enthusiasts of all levels.