Internet group Tencent has reached the advanced stage of talks to invest about $100m in India-based fantasy sports platform Dream11, the Economic Times reported today.
The prospective deal would value Dream11 at $400m to $450m according to a term sheet drawn up by Tencent, three sources with knowledge of the developments told ET.
Founded in 2012, Dream11 runs an online platform where users can compete against each other for prizes on fantasy games covering professional football, cricket or basketball. The games are organised so they centre on specific games or matchdays in each sport.
The business model is similar to that employed by US-based platforms FanDuel and DraftKings, though Dream11 may well avoid the regulatory pitfalls suffered by the other two, following a legal judgement earlier this month ruling that the games require too much skill to be designated as gambling.
The company claims to have more than 20 million users, and ET cited unidentified industry experts stating that it owns a 90% share of the market in India.
Dream11 has not disclosed details of its past funding but ET named venture capital firm Kalaari Capital, investment manager Multiples Alternate Asset Management and investment firm Think Investments as earlier backers.