Company:Mobile Premier League

From HandWiki
Short description: Indian fantasy sports platform

Mobile Premier League
TypePrivate Limited
IndustryMobile Gaming, e-Sports
FoundedSeptember 2018
FounderSai Srinivas Kiran Garimella, Shubham Malhotra
HeadquartersBangalore, India
Area served
India , Indonesia
ParentGalactus Funware Technology Pvt. Ltd.
Websitehttps://www.mpl.live/

Mobile Premier League (also known as MPL) is a mobile e-Sports platform based in India . It is operated by Bangalore-based Galactus Funware Technology Pvt. Ltd.

Users can compete in multiple skill based mobile gaming tournaments on MPL. It was launched in September 2018 and as of February 2021, the app has a user base of more than 60 million.[1]

History

Mobile Premier League was founded in September 2018 by Sai Srinivas Kiran Garimella and Shubham Malhotra, who earlier founded Consumer Electronics company CREO.[2] In February 2019 it was launched on the Apple App Store and for Android users as a sideload app. [3]

Funding

On 8 November 2018, it was announced that MPL has raised $5 million in a funding round led by Sequoia Capital.[2] On 24 April 2019, MPL raised $35.5 million in Series A funding from lead investors Go-Ventures, Times Internet and Sequoia Capital India.[4]

In September 2020, MPL raised US$90 million in a Series C funding round led by SIG, RTP Global, and MDI Ventures. [5]

In February 2021, the company raised US$95 million in a Series D funding round led by Base Partners, Composite Capital, Go-Ventures, Founders Circle, Moore Strategic Ventures, Play Ventures, RTP Global, SIG and Telstra Ventures. [6]

Operations and Partnerships

On 15 April 2019, MPL signed up as a member of All India Gaming Federation (AIGF), which focuses on setting regulations and policies to govern the gaming industry in India.[7]

In April 2019, MPL entered into a strategic partnership with Flipkart owned PhonePe. The partnership allows PhonePe users to play the fantasy cricket game MPL SuperTeam from within its app, thus giving a larger audience reach to MPL.[8][9]

MPL operates in Indonesia since May 2019.[10][11]

Game formats

MPL is a platform where users can signup to play skill-games and win cash prizes in return. Users can choose to play from three different formats of games.

Tournaments

When playing in a tournament, users need to submit their high-score to rank high on the leader-board. Users can play a game multiple times in a tournament, only the highest score of each user is considered for final leader-board calculation.

1-vs-1 battles

Some games on MPL platform are available to be played against real players in 1-vs-1 mode. In this two player format, user scoring higher or finishing the game first takes home the winning amount.

Fantasy Sports

Through SuperTeam fantasy sport platform, MPL gives its users an option to create a virtual team and join contests for upcoming live matches. Real life performance of selected players determine the points scored by the team created. Users are rewarded prizes based on the final ranking of their teams in a contest.

Collaborations

In March 2019, MPL signed up Virat Kohli as their brand ambassador.[12]

References

  1. "Virat Kohli-backed e-gaming startup MPL nears unicorn status with latest $95 million funding". 4 February 2021. https://www.financialexpress.com/industry/sme/virat-kohli-backed-mpl-to-be-next-e-gaming-unicorn-raises-95-million-even-as-valuation-more-than-doubles-to-945-million/2187784. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 "Sequoia leads investment in Creo founders' new gaming startup MPL" (in en-US). 2018-11-08. https://www.vccircle.com/creo-founders-new-digital-gaming-startup-mpl-raises-5-mn. 
  3. "MPL working with Google to restore app on Play Store". 15 May 2019. https://tech.hindustantimes.com/tech/news/mpl-working-with-google-to-restore-app-on-play-store-story-NP18nlo0hV5TKdkgQaEWVL.html. 
  4. www.ETtech.com. "MPL secures Rs 250 cr from Go-Jek arm, Sequoia India & Times Internet - ETtech" (in en). The Economic Times. https://tech.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/startups/mpl-secures-rs-250-cr-from-go-jek-arm-sequoia-india-times-internet/69016272. 
  5. "Mobile Premier League raises $90 million series C investment". 21 September 2020. https://www.livemint.com/companies/start-ups/mobile-premier-league-raises-90-million-series-c-investment-11600672800248.html. 
  6. "Virat Kohli-backed e-gaming startup MPL nears unicorn status with latest $95 million funding". 4 February 2021. https://www.financialexpress.com/industry/sme/virat-kohli-backed-mpl-to-be-next-e-gaming-unicorn-raises-95-million-even-as-valuation-more-than-doubles-to-945-million/2187784. 
  7. "Mobile Premier League (MPL) comes onboard as an AIGF Member. - India's Biggest Gaming Platform". https://www.gaming360.in/mobile-premier-league-mpl-comes-onboard-as-an-aigf-member/. 
  8. Bhakta, Pratik (2019-04-09). "PhonePe is tapping in-app merchants". The Economic Times. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/newsbuzz/phonepe-is-tapping-in-app-merchants/articleshow/68788124.cms. 
  9. "PhonePe betting big on sports this year, sees growth in transactions". https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/trends/sports-trends/phonepe-betting-big-on-sports-this-year-sees-growth-in-transactions-3792891.html. 
  10. "Digital gaming startup MPL enters Indonesia after raising Series A round" (in en-US). 2019-05-02. https://www.techcircle.in/2019/05/02/digital-gaming-startup-mpl-enters-indonesia-after-raising-series-a-round. 
  11. "Indian gaming platform Mobile Premier League raises $90 million". https://www.newindianexpress.com/business/2020/sep/21/indian-gaming-platform-mobile-premier-leagueraises-90-million-2199928.html. 
  12. www.ETBrandEquity.com. "Mobile Premier League announces Virat Kohli as brand ambassador - ET BrandEquity" (in en). https://brandequity.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/marketing/mobile-premier-league-announces-virat-kohli-as-brand-ambassador/68252545.