Exclusive | Dream11’s parent in advanced talks to acquire gaming startup SoStronk

Dream Sports, the parent firm of fantasy gaming platform Dream11, which raised $225 million a day earlier, is in talks to acquire Bengaluru-based e-sports platform SoStronk, according to industry sources.

Founded by Prashant Prabhakar and Karan Mishra in 2016, SoStronk is a tech enabler in the e-sports industry. It has B2C as well as B2B segments.

What SoStronk does

Under B2C, SoStronk offers services to competitive gamers for a subscription, and in the B2B segment, it acts as an entity running major online and offline tournaments.

SoStronk also works on providing technology infrastructure, support and production to e-sports tournament organisers.

The company last raised an undisclosed amount from Inflection Point Ventures (IPV) in 2019.

Dream11 has big backers

Dream11, on the other hand, raised $225 million in a funding round from Tiger Global Management, private equity firms TPG and ChrysCapital and Footpath Ventures, on Monday.

The fundraise comes less than a month after it bagged the title sponsorship rights for the Indian Premier League (IPL), the cricket tournament that drives the majority of its revenue.

Also Read: Dream11's parent firm raises $225 million from Tiger Global, TPG, ChrysCapital

The company offers fantasy games such as cricket, kabaddi and football. Its official partners include the IPL, International Cricket Council (ICC) and National Basketball Association (NBA).

Parent Dream Sports also runs streaming app FanCode and sports accelerator DreamX.

More acquisitions planned

Loaded with truckloads of funding from marquee investors, SoStronk is not the only company Dream Sports is in talks to acquire. Indeed, it is in negotiations with at least 4-5 other gaming and technology startups.

Most of these acquisitions, if completed, will either offer Dream11 a niche in the gaming arena or help enhance its technology. Moneycontrol couldn't ascertain the names of the other startups Dream Sports is in talks with.

“The overall budget lined up for all these acquisitions is in the range of $10-15 million,” said one of the sources quoted above. The exact size of the SoStronk deal was not immediately clear.

India is expected to have 800 million internet users and 700 million smartphones by 2023 from about 560 million currently.

Rapid internet penetration and availability of affordable smartphones have led to an increase in the adoption of online gaming in India. This was accelerated further during the Covid-19 lockdown, when the country was forced to stay indoors in the hopes of breaking the chain of infection.

Dream Sports and SoStronk did not respond to queries.

Original Source: https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/startup/exclusive-dream11s-parent-in-advanced-talks-to-acquire-gaming-startup-sostronk-5841381.html