Rario, a cricket NFT platform, raises $120 million led by Dream Capital

Rario, a platform for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in cricket, has raised $120 million from Dream Capital, Dream Sports’ corporate venture capital and mergers and acquisitions arm.

Alpha Wave Global (previously Falcon Edge Capital) joined existing investors Animoca Brands, Presight Capital, and Kingsway Capital in the round.

As reported first by The Economic Times, Rario’s funding round is in advanced discussions with Dream Capital. It is also Dream Capital’s first venture into the Web3 industry. Rario will gain access to Dream Sports’ 140 million active users as a result of this capital investment.

“We see a compelling and long-term use case for sports NFTs as a fan engagement tool emerging. Sports fans can now own their favorite moments and player cards, which they can then use across a variety of services and platforms.” Dream Sports CSO Dev Bajaj told ET, “We believe Rario is a good strategic fit for us and our largest investment.”

Rario was founded in 2021 by Sunny Bhanot and Ankit Wadhwa, two Singapore-based entrepreneurs, during a global boom in NFTs and cryptocurrency. Through various partnerships, the platform has secured NFT rights to six international cricket leagues and over 900 international cricketers. A multi-year agreement signed by Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers’ Association has made collectibles and gaming for Australian cricket possible.

According to Wadhwa, Rario has obtained the most comprehensive set of rights, including those of players. This gives us exclusive and broad access to player rights in addition to video moment NFTs. According to Wadhwa, players who represent their country and compete in domestic tournaments are also a part of this ecosystem. As a result, you’ll notice that our rights allow us to generate usefulness through a variety of interoperable games. To make matters even easier, the same cards can be used in multiple games. I believe this will be the first time that NFTs are demonstrated to be truly useful to the rest of the world.”

He stated that the funds will be used to acquire additional rights and develop new products.

Cricket fans can use Rario to join a group effort to collect digital collectibles such as playing cards, video clips, and cricket artifacts. Rario allows Indian sports fans to buy, sell, and trade NFTs using credit cards, debit cards, and bank transfers.

Unlike the majority of NFT marketplaces, Rario is attempting to build a framework for transactions and purchasing NFTs that is compatible with the current regulatory environment in India. Rario intends to operate in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations around the world. According to Wadhwa, this means that India is preparing for a fiat currency-only (currency-only) environment.
Profits from NFT trading are taxed at a rate of 30%. Since 2021, Rario has sold over 50,000 NFTs to customers in 20 countries. The company’s top-selling markets are the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, and India.

Insight Partners, global private equity and venture capital firm based in New York, led a $100 million funding round for rival cricket NFT platform Fan Craze, in which B Capital also invested.

Dream Sports, the parent company of online fantasy gaming startup Dream11, established a $250 million venture arm last August in an attempt to become a sports technology conglomerate.

There have been 12 investments, including a $50 million investment in FanCode, a platform that the company previously incubated. Dream Sports’ 140 million user portfolio includes Dream11, the sports accelerator DreamX, and the experiential travel company DreamSetGo.

Dream Sports received $840 million in funding from new and existing investors in November, including D1 Capital, Tiger Global, and Redbird Capital. TPG and Footpath Ventures were among the investors in that round.