India cricket metaverse start-up raises $100m
Insight Partners has led USD 100m Series A round for FanCraze, an Indian digital assets start-up that earlier this year launched a range of cricket-themed non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
B Capital Group, Tiger Global Management, Coatue Management, Sequoia Capital India, Mirae Asset Global Investments, and Courtside Ventures were among the other participants, according to a statement. Additional commitments came from Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo and several unnamed professional cricketers.
FanCraze received USD 17.4m in seed funding last November led by Tiger Global. Coatue, Sequoia, Courtside, Dapper Labs, and Samsung Next also took part. Around the same time, the company secured a partnership with the International Cricket Council (ICC) to create digital collectables on the Flow blockchain.
In January, videos of 75 notable cricketing moments were released as NFTs. Owners can build collections across specific matches or series, trade NFTs on FanCraze’s marketplace, and win opportunities to interact with famous cricketers. There are also plans for apps and games through which owners can earn financial rewards in the FanCraze metaverse.
NFTs are categorised by rarity, length, and significance. The most common videos trade for as little as USD 7, while footage of a four struck by legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar in a 1992 world cup match against Pakistan has a minimum ask of USD 32,259.
FanCraze was founded last year by Anshum Bhambri, Kushagra Kohli, and Sundar Raman, the first COO of the Indian Premier League and a former CEO of Reliance Sports. It claims partnerships with Cricket West Indies as well as the ICC, and with cricketers including Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Muttiah Muralitharan, Jonty Rhodes, Shikhar Dhawan, Andre Russell, and Ravichandran Ashwin.
“NFTs are fast becoming a movement and are enabling a direct relationship between all types of IP owners and their fans. NFTs represent culture and FanCraze is building an experience that would enable fans to collect cricket NFTs, engage with play-to-earn games and utilities, and own digital land,” said Bhambri.
There has been a surge in NTF, metaverse, and crypto investment across Asia. Recent India-related activity includes a USD 450m round for Polygon, a platform for building, scaling, and connecting Ethereum-compatible blockchain networks. Sequoia led the round, while Tiger Global was among the other participants.
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