Bengaluru-settled online gaming platform Mobile Premier League (MPL) has brought around $150 million up in its series E round at a valuation of $2.3 billion catapulting the Bengaluru-settled startup into the Unicorn club.

The most recent fundraise was driven by Legatum Capital. Existing investors including Sequoia, SIG, RTP Global, Go-Ventures, Moore Strategic Ventures, Play Ventures, Base Partners, Telstra Ventures, and Founders Circle Capital additionally took an interest in the round. MPL was valued at around $945 million preceding this round.

“MPL’s proven achievement in India and Indonesia urged us to launch in the US, one of the world’s biggest gaming markets,” said Sai Srinivas, co-founder, and CEO at MPL. “Our US operations are looking encouraging so far and we’re accordingly satisfying our purpose to make our foundation the esports and gaming center of the world.”

MPL, which began operations in 2018, will utilize the new implantation of funding to finance its worldwide development, invest in its local technology and drive development in the Indian market.

MPL’s fundraise comes against the backdrop of China getting serious about esports, restricting the number of hours individuals under 18 years can play online video games. The move pointed toward checking video game habit among the adolescent is relied upon to affect other major online gaming markets like the US, South Korea, and India, which is seemingly the fourth-biggest gaming market worldwide.

While the Indian online gaming market reached around $1 billion in 2020 from $543 million in 2016, it can create $2 billion in rake fees by 2023, showed data from EY-All India Gaming Federation (AIGF).

MPL’s nearest rival Dream11, as well, raised $400 million at a valuation of around $5 billion in March. The funding was driven by tech investors like TCV, Falcon Edge, and D1 Capital Partners.

With around 400 gaming start-ups working in India, the sector’s new achievement was filled by the Covid-19 pandemic, as individuals consigned to their homes went to their smartphones to play online games. The number of online gamers in India is set to grow from 360 million in 2020 to 510 million in 2022.

Credits: The Times Of India