Mobile Premier League raises $90 million in Series C funding round

Mobile Premier League (MPL), an esports and mobile gaming platform, on Monday, announced that it has raised $90 million in Series C funding.

The funding was led by SIG and early-stage tech investor RTP Global, along with MDI Ventures and Pegasus Tech Ventures while existing investors Sequoia India, Go-Ventures, and Base Partners also participated in this round.

The investment brings MPL’s total funding to $130.5 million after previously raising $40.5 million.

MPL has been in advanced discussions with investors to raise capital since January this year before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. Between March and now, MPL has grown over 4x and is currently the largest gaming platform in the country, having onboarded marquee titles such as the World Cricket Championship, the company claimed.

Speaking about the funding and MPL’s growth, Sai Srinivas, co-founder and CEO at Mobile Premier League, said, “This latest round of funding will enable us to entertain and connect an even larger audience across India and beyond. Being able to bring quality technology, competitive spirit and enjoyment to people in such an accessible way is what keeps us excited. The online gaming industry is seeing huge and increasing engagement; with this fresh capital injection being proof of MPL’s potential to lead and transform this space.”

MPL has grown by leaps and bounds through its strategic partnerships, offerings, and a growing user base of well over 6 crores. The platform has recorded over 2 billion cash transactions on the app to date.

This capital raised will be used to further accelerate MPL’s position in the gaming market, expand its product offering, and grow its team. The funding will also be used towards product development with a focus on social functions such as live streaming, and audio and video content features. With this, MPL intends to capitalise on the rapidly growing online gaming trend and become the world’s largest gaming, esports, and content platform, the statement added.

Since its founding in September 2018, MPL has added over 70 games to its platform, working with over 28 game developers and studios.

In an era where virtual interaction continues to grow at scale, MPL provides the means to connect with enthusiastic gamers and continues to grow. Users can play a variety of games and can also create, share and monetise their own content, and connect with friends via live streaming functions. Over the past four months, the number of games played on MPL’s most popular titles has increased by more than 700%. In less than two years, MPL has signed Indian cricket team's captain Virat Kohli as its brand ambassador, sponsored two top Indian Premier League (IPL) teams - Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore - and also bagged the presenting sponsorship of reality TV show Bigg Boss, anchored by Bollywood superstar Salman Khan.

With approximately 300 million gamers, India is placed among the top five gaming markets globally. Further, there has already been a boost in online gaming in recent months as a result of the impact of Covid-19.