Rario, the Singapore-headquartered owner of a cricket-focused non-fungible token (NFT) platform, raised $120m yesterday in a series A round led by Dream Capital, the investment arm of fantasy sports operator Dream Sports.
Blockchain technology and game provider Animoca Brands filled out the round alongside Alpha Wave Global, Kingsway Capital and Presight Capital.
Founded in 2021, Rario has built an online platform that allows users to collect and trade cricket-based NFTs spanning areas such as video clips, player cards and other artefacts. It has been responsible for the sale of more than 50,000 NFTs to date across 20 countries.
The company claims it has the largest share of cricket NFT rights globally, having formed exclusive partnerships with six international cricket leagues including Cricket Australia, with which it has a multi-year deal alongside Australian Cricketers’ Association to create a cricket NFT and gaming metaverse.
Rario also has deals in place with Caribbean Premier League, Lanka Premier League, Legends League Cricket and Abu Dhabi T10 League.
Dream Sport’s 140 million users will be able to acquire Rario’s NFTs through fiat-based mediums following the transaction. It marks Dream Capital’s largest investment to date and the largest single investment into the cricket NFT space.
The deal marks Dream Capital’s largest investment to date and the largest single round so far in the cricket-based NFT space. It was launched in August 2021 with $250m to invest in sports-related areas such as gaming and fitness technology.
Rario co-founder and chief executive Ankit Wadhwa said: “Cricket is the second-largest sport in the world with more than 1.5 billion fans globally. NFTs are creating new forms of engagement allowing fans to own and trade digital collectables. Rario’s global cricket NFT ecosystem will be further strengthened by the 140 million sports fans on Dream Sports.”
Image courtesy of Digital Collectibles Pte Ltd.
