The latest fundraising was led by inheritance capital. Existing investors including Sequoia, SIG, RTP Global, Go-Ventures, Moor Strategic Ventures, Play Ventures, Base Partners, Telstra Ventures and Founders Circle Capital also participated in the round. Prior to this round, MPL was valued at approximately $945 million.
Sai Srinivas, MPL’s Co-Founder and CEO, said, “MPL’s proven success in India and Indonesia encourages us to launch in the US, one of the world’s largest gaming markets.” “Our US operations are off to a promising start and thus we are fulfilling our resolve to make our platform the world’s esports and gaming hub.”
MPL, which began operations in 2018, will use the fresh inflow of capital to finance its global expansion, invest in its home-grown technology and drive growth in the Indian market.
MPL’s funding comes against the backdrop of China cracking down on e-sports, limiting the number of hours that people under 18 can play video games online. The move, aimed at curbing video game addiction among youth, is expected to impact other major online gaming markets such as the US, South Korea and India, which is the fourth largest gaming market globally.
EY-All India Gaming Federation (AIGF) data shows that the Indian online gaming market grew from $543 million in 2016 to nearly $1 billion, but has the potential to generate $2 billion in rake fees by 2023.
MPL’s closest rival, Dream11, also raised $400 million in March at a valuation of around $5 billion. The funding was led by technology investors such as TCV, Falcon Edge and D1 Capital Partners.
With around 400 gaming startups operating in India, the sector’s recent success was fueled by the Covid-19 pandemic, as people turned to their smartphones to play online games in their homes. The number of online gamers in India will increase from 360 million in 2020 to 510 million in 2022.
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