Mumbai/IBNS: Sports collectibles and skill gaming company BuyStars Wednesday said it has raised $5 million in pre-series A round led by Indian Gaming and Interactive-focused VC Fund Lumikai, Chiratae and Leo Capital.
The funding will be allocated towards investing in growth and launching new games on the platform.
With the fresh funding, BuyStars has now raised $9 million in total till date.
The company founded in 2021 by industry veterans -Aman Satija and Sriram Krishnamoorthy. The company offers multiple skill games like fantasy, player trading, trump cards etc., seamlessly integrated to provide utility to collectibles available on the platform. BuyStars uses deep game mechanics built upon a robust economy, involving the trading of cricket player cards.
It allows users to play games on the platform encouraging all-season and year-long play. This skill-based approach and utility is aimed to remove seasonality and speculation of fantasy games, leading to healthy long-term player engagement and retention. Since its launch in 2021, BuyStars has amassed 1.5M registered users and a monthly GMV north of $1 million.
Expressing his views on the funding received, Aman Satija, CEO & Co-founder of BuyStars said, “BuyStars was started with a mission to disrupt how cricket fans engage with games today. We are extremely pleased that our efforts are getting recognised. While funding is
never a testament to a company’s success, however, when experienced investors decide to back a company, it’s definitely a great validation of the mission one started with and a tribute to the hard work of a team which came together to build it.”
Commenting on the investment, Salone Sehgal, Founding General Partner, Lumikai said, “Globally, the sports collectibles market is valued at $5.4B annually with sports cards trading growing at nearly 140% year-on-year in terms of volume. In India alone, skill based real money
gaming and fantasy sports segment accounted for $1.5B of the $2.6B gaming industry in FY22, growing at a 25% 5-year CAGR. Aman and Sriram’s thesis around driving engagement and long-term retention via leveraging collectibles and trading cards for a fantasy focused audience base is deeply compelling. Product-led innovation in this segment is necessary to disrupt incumbents and unlock value. The team’s unique insights, deep expertise combined with current user traction already reveal early potential.”
Speaking on Leo Capital’s investment, the VC Firm’s partner Dinesh Singh said, “BuyStars is a uniquely positioned player in the fantasy sports landscape. Its skill-based approach puts forth a strong alternative to how users engage with fantasy games, and we believe, is poised
to redefine the future of this segment. We continue to extend our confidence in BuyStars and its team’s vision, through our participation in the company’s pre-series A round.”
Saketh Katikaneni, AVP Investments, Chiratae Ventures commented, “While India remains one of the largest markets for Sports RMG, existing offerings are archaic, ‘gameplay’ is nearly non-existent and incumbent formats do not appeal to a diverse user base. BuyStars plugs these holes with their category-creating gaming platform offering multiple inter-connected sports-based games, centered around a market of player cards and game assets. The company is well on its way to disrupt the Sports RMG market which is possibly the largest gaming opportunity in India.
