India has just got its second gaming unicorn, after Mobile Premier League announced on Wednesday that it has raised undisclosed amount of funding at an estimated post-funding valuation of $2.3 Bn. This is the second fundraise for the Bengaluru based startup, which raised $95 Mn in a Series D round at a market valuation of nearly $900 Mn in February this year. This implies that MPL has more than doubled its valuation within the span of six months.
Legatum Capital has spearheaded the latest Series E round while Accrete Capital, Gaingels LLC along with existing investors also participated in the round.
Although MPL hasn’t shed light on the exact funding amount, people privy to the matter claimed that the latest funding is in the tune of $150 Mn. However, Techpluto could not verify this information independently.
MPL’s unicorn funding has come just months before the remaining games of the season 14 IPL games will be conducted. MPL is one of the sponsorship partners of IPL 14 and has poured huge capital into the IPL sponsorship.
MPL essentially collaborates with third-party developers for developing skill based games and then publishes these games on its platform.
MPL was founded in the fall of 2018 and within the span of three years MPL has risen to meteoric height. Today its success mirrors that of its arch rival Dream 11, which is India’s first gaming unicorn. MPL surpassing the unicorn valuation within three years makes it one of fastest unicorns. This puts the Bengaluru based startup in the league of Cred and Udaan, which equally acquired the unicorn status at an accelerated pace.
Equally important is to note the fact that the Tiger Global funded startup is the 26th unicorn of 2021. It has been raining unicorns for the Indian startup industry this year. In fact, this has been the year of coming of an age for Indian startups as many of them are laying the groundwork for the IPO listing.