PremiumNew Delhi: Multigaming platform Games24x7 on Wednesday said it has made a strategic investment in CricHeroes, a digital player-focused platform targeted at the grassroots cricket ecosystem.
While the details of the investment are under wraps, the company said it will help both companies reach out to the under-penetrated grassroots cricket in India.
Launched in 2016 as a scorekeeping app for grassroots cricketers to keep their scores, CricHeroes currently has over nine million registered users and over 1.5 million matches scored. The Ahmedabad-based company is digitizing cricket at the state and district level as well and emerging players are using their statistics from the CricHeroes app for various official tournaments. The company has partnered with over 50 BCCI state cricket associations and ICC affiliated members countries.
Globally, cricket is the second-largest sport with an estimated fan base of 2.5 billion and 300 million active participants above the age of 16 years.
Rahul Tewari, chief financial officer, Games24x7 said this is the company's first investment in the grassroots cricket level and it is synergistic investment for the fantasy cricket platform My11Circle.
"We think with our expertise in data science, technology and marketing automation, we will be able to help CricHeroes to scale even more rapidly. We will benefit from the customer base they have who are dedicated cricket fans and players," he added.
Tewari said that the gully cricket and weekend tournaments at the college and district level are what CricHeroes targets.
“It’s the defacto app of scoring and they have also introduced video streaming service for the matches. This part of the market, which has historically not been digitised, is being served by CricHeroes. The investment will be used for product development, hiring talent and user acquisition. Going forward, Games24x7 is looking to acquire and make strategic investments in the European and North American markets in the gaming technology and content space," he added.
Launched in 2019, Games24x7’s daily fantasy sports offering My11Circle has over 23 million sports enthusiasts on its platform.
“With this fund, we aim to create a highly engaged community and bring some interesting technology solutions for grassroots cricket in the coming years," said Kuntal Shah, co-founder, CricHeroes.
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