Mobile Premier League raises USD 95mn, nears unicorn status

The latest round was led by Composite Capital and Moore Strategic Ventures, with participation from Base Partners, RTP Global, SIG, Go-Ventures, Telstra Ventures, Founders circle and Play Ventures. 

The total capital raised by MPL since its inception in 2018 now stands at $225.5 million. 

MPL said it will use this fresh influx of funds to expand its eSports portfolio and bolster its efforts to organize more such eSports tournaments nationally and internationally at scale. 

The funds will also be used to accelerate MPL's international expansion this year, the platform said. 

"As we grow our presence and expand, this fresh round of funds will help us focus on our core value propositions -- a robust platform with the best features for gamers and onboarding the best e-sports titles," Sai Srinivas, Co-Founder and CEO, MPL, said in a statement. 

"The e-sports community in India is thriving, and we believe this is the perfect time to take Indian-made games to the world as well as help Indian gamers get recognized for their talent." 

Founded in 2018 by Srinivas and Shubh Malhotra, the MPL gaming platform has over 60 million users in India and over 3.5 million users in Indonesia. 

With over 50 games across categories on its Android and iOS applications currently, MPL has worked with 28 game developers to publish their games on the platform and provide them with a new revenue stream. 

The pandemic-induced lockdown in 2020 provided a fillip to an already booming e-sports industry in India and the world. 

Its College Premier League (CPL) saw participation from over 13,000 gamers and more than 100 colleges in India in November-December 2020, with Rs 1 crore in prizes and scholarships. 

Last week, MPL also announced raising $500,000 from existing employees under its Employee Investment Plan, which saw participation from 10 per cent of the company's employees.