Mobile Premier League

Last updated

Mobile Premier League
Company type Private
Industry Online gaming
Founded2018;6 years ago (2018)
Founders
  • Sai Srinivas Kiran
  • Shubham Malhotra
Headquarters
Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
Area served
India, Europe, USA
RevenueIncrease2.svg $104.63 million (FY23) [1]
Decrease Positive.svg $–37 million (FY23) [1]
OwnersGalactus Funware Technology Pvt. Ltd [2]
Number of employees
800 (2021)
Website www.mpl.live

Mobile Premier League (MPL) is an Indian online gaming platform. It is based in Bengaluru, India. Founded in 2018 by Srinivas Kiran and Shubham Malhotra, the company currently offers 60 games in categories such as fantasy sports, sports games, puzzle, casual and board games. MPL offers fantasy cricket, football, and basketball leagues and has partnerships with major sports leagues such as the NBA and Pro Kabaddi League. [3]

Contents

History

MPL was founded by Sai Srinivas Kiran and Shubham Malhotra in 2018, initially offering puzzle games and casual games and expanding to fantasy sports the following year. [4] The company connects game publishers with users via its app platform. [5] In 2021, the company bought over GamingMonk, an esports community platform. [6]

The company currently offers 60 games in categories such as fantasy sports, sports games, puzzle, casual and board games. Given that certain games are banned in certain jurisdictions, the company has had to alter its offerings based on the users region. It employs over 800 people spread across offices in Bengaluru, Pune, Singapore and New York. [7] The company claims to have over 90 million registered users on its platform. [4]

A report by Mobile Premier League (MPL), that was published in 2024, has raised concerns about cybercriminals targeting young gamers for financial gain, exploiting their vulnerability and innocence. These scams pose significant risks to children's safety, privacy, and financial security, with potential consequences including identity theft, unauthorized bank access, and cyberbullying. Scammers often use psychological tricks and create fictitious identities, especially with the rise of AI. [8]

Geographic presence

MPL began as a mobile gaming application in India. In it expanded to Indonesia, its second country market in 2019. [9] In 2021, the company entered a third country when it launched operations in USA. [10] In 2022, the company bought out GameDuell, a games studio based in Berlin thus giving it an entry into the European market. [11]

As a part of cutbacks in 2022, the company announced it would exit the Indonesian market amongst other measures. [12]

Partnerships and brand ambassador

In 2019, the company became a broadcast partner for the Indian Premier League. It also signed up cricketer Virat Kohli as a brand ambassador. In 2020, the company became sponsors for Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League. [2]

A subsidiary of the online gaming platform, MPL Sports Apparel & Accessories was the official kit sponsor of the Indian Men's Cricket Team, Indian Women's Cricket Team, and Indian Under-19 Cricket Team from November 2020 till December 2022. [13] [14]

In 2021, MPL Sports Foundation was announced as the principal sponsor of the Indian contingent participating in the 2020 Summer Olympics, 2022 Asian Games and 2022 Commonwealth Games under a partnership with the Indian Olympic Association. [15]

Funding

MPL counts Sequoia Capital, Go Ventures, RTP Global, Go-Ventures, Moore Strategic Ventures, Play Ventures, Base Partners, Telstra Ventures, Founders Circle Capital, and Times Internet amongst its investors. [16] In 2021, it became India's second gaming unicorn when it raised funding in its Series E round at a valuation of $2.3 billion from Legatum Capital, RTP Global, Go-Ventures, Play Ventures, Base Partners, Founders Circle Capital and existing investors. [4] [17] [18]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">India women's national cricket team</span> Womens cricket team

The India women's national cricket team, also known as Women in Blue, represents India in women's international cricket. It is governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, and is a full member of the International Cricket Council with Women's Test, Women's One Day International, and Women's Twenty20 International status.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garena</span> Singaporean digital entertainment platform

Garena is a Singaporean game developer and publisher of free online games. It is the digital entertainment arm of parent company Sea Ltd, which formerly used Garena as the parent company name.

Video gaming in India is an emerging market since India is experiencing strong growth in online gaming, making it one of the top gaming markets in the world. Over the past few decades, the Indian gaming industry has gone from close to nonexistent in the 1990s to one of the top markets globally in the late 2010s. In 2019, the online gaming market in India was estimated at ₹6,200 crore (US$740 million) with an estimated 300 million gamers, a 41.6% increase from 2018. As of 2021, it is one of the top five mobile gaming markets in the world. By the third quarter of 2020 there were more than 7.4 billion mobile game downloads. According to the "State of India Gaming Report," released by venture capital firm Lumikai with Google, as of November 2023, there were 568 million gamers in India. Additionally, it was reported that in FY23, 41% of gamers were female and 66% were from non-metros, with each user on average spending 10–12 hours per week on video games.

Skillz is an online mobile multiplayer video game competition platform that is integrated into a number of iOS and Android games. The Skillz platform helps developers create franchises by enabling social competition in their games. Skillz has over 14,000 game developers who launched a game integration on the platform. Skillz hosts billions of casual esports tournaments for millions of mobile players worldwide.

<i>Arena of Valor</i> Multiplayer online battle arena video game

Arena of Valor, formerly Strike of Kings, is an international adaptation of Honor of Kings, a multiplayer online battle arena developed by TiMi Studio Group and published by Level Infinite for Android, iOS and Nintendo Switch for markets outside Mainland China. As of September 2018, the game has grossed over $140 million outside China. Arena of Valor was one of the esports titles featured at the 2018 Asian Games, 2019 Southeast Asian Games, 2021 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, and 2021 SEA Games as part of the competitive sport. Arena of Valor was published in other regions by Garena, DeNA, Actoz SG, and TiMi Studio Group.

<i>Mobile Legends: Bang Bang</i> Multiplayer online battle arena mobile game

Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) is a mobile multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game developed and published by Chinese developer Moonton, a subsidiary of ByteDance. The game was released in 2016 and grew in popularity, most prominently in Southeast Asia.

Dream11 is an Indian fantasy sports platform that allows users to play daily fantasy sports contests, primarily in cricket. In April 2019, Dream11 became the first Indian fantasy sport company to become a unicorn. In November 2021, Dream11 was valued at $8 billion. In October 2023, Dream11 claimed to have 200 million users.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vishal Misra</span> American engineer

Vishal Misra is an Indian-American computer scientist at Columbia University, New York, NY. He serves as Professor in the Computer Science and Electrical Engineering departments and as Vice Dean of Computing and AI at Columbia's School of Engineering. He was named Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in 2016 for his contributions to network traffic modeling, congestion control, and Internet economics. He was elected as an ACM Fellow in 2018. In 2014, he received the Distinguished Young Alumnus Award from the University of Massachusetts Amherst School of Engineering, and in 2019, he was designated a Distinguished Alumnus of IIT Bombay, from which he graduated in 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">EVOS Esports</span> Professional esports organisation based in Jakarta, Indonesia

EVOS Esports is a professional esports organisation based in Jakarta, Indonesia. It currently has competitive teams in Apex Legends, Free Fire, and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AP Bren</span> Professional Esports organization based in the Philippines

Aces Pro Bren Esports, commonly known as AP Bren, is a Southeast Asian professional esports organization based in the Philippines. It has competitive teams in Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, CS:GO, PUBG, League of Legends, Overwatch, Hearthstone, Clash Royale, Arena of Valor, Rules of Survival, Valorant, and Tekken 7. In the Philippine esports league The Nationals, the team competes as Bren EPro. The organization was founded on 16 August 2017 by Bernard "Bren" Chong who is part of the Chong clan that owns World Balance.

Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Mid Season Cup, referred to as MSC, is an annual international tournament for professional esport teams for the MOBA game Mobile Legends: Bang Bang hosted by Moonton in the middle of years, since 2017.

<i>Mobile Legends: Bang Bang</i> World Championship Esports tournament

The Mobile Legends: Bang Bang World Championship is the annual professional Mobile Legends: Bang Bang world esports championship tournament for the game wherein teams worldwide would be facing off each other to become the world champion for Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. The yearly tournament is presented by Moonton and has been held five times.

<i>PUBG Mobile</i> Free-to-play battle royale video game

PUBG Mobile is a free-to-play battle royale video game co-developed by LightSpeed & Quantum Studio and PUBG Studios. It is a mobile game adaptation of PUBG: Battlegrounds. It was initially released for Android and iOS on 19th of March 2018.

Mobile Legends: Bang BangProfessional League Philippines, known as MPL Philippines or simply MPL-PH, is a professional Esports league for the game Mobile Legends: Bang Bang in the Philippines. MPL Philippines is the direct route of qualified teams to both the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang World Championship and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Mid Season Cup. MPL Philippines currently follows a franchise-based system, wherein eight teams are currently competing as and officially removing local team qualifiers, previously evident during MPL Philippines Season 7.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports</span> National sports federation

The Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports or FIFS is India's only self-governing body for fantasy sports in India and is based in New Delhi. It supports the Indian fantasy sports industry and its interests.

Fantasy sports came to India in the later half of the 2010s. The Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports (FIFS) is the highest governing body.

The Mobile Legends: Bang BangProfessional League Indonesia, better known as MPL Indonesia or MPL-ID, is a regional professional esports league for the game Mobile Legends: Bang Bang in Indonesia. MPL-ID serves as the direct qualifying tournament for Indonesian teams for the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Mid Season Cup (MSC) and the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang World Championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FanCode</span> Indian subscription streaming service

FanCode was founded in 2019 by Yannick Colaco and Prasana Krishnan. It is an over-the-top streaming service and sports e-commerce company in India. It is part of the Dream Sports group. It offers interactive live streaming, sports fan merchandise, fantasy sports statistics and analytics, interactive live match scores, live commentary, expert opinions and news to its users on its website and application. In May 2024, FanCode crossed 100 million user base.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Games24x7</span> Indian online gaming company

Games24x7 is an Indian online gaming company founded in 2006 by Bhavin Pandya and Trivikraman Thampy. It's headquartered in Mumbai, India. The company is known for its games like RummyCircle and My11Circle. The company has offices in Mumbai, Bengaluru, New Delhi, and Miami. As of 2022, the company was valued at $2.5 billion following a $75 million fundraising round.

References

  1. 1 2 "Skill gaming unicorn MPL's global foray pays off; records 38% revenue from global markets in FY23". Moneycontrol. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
  2. 1 2 Menon, Rashmi (15 January 2021). "MPL's Sai Srinivas is making gaming accessible". Mintlounge. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  3. ↑ Daily, List (18 June 2024). "Dream11 vs My11Circle vs MPL: Which Fantasy Sports App Is the Best?". Dailylist.in. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
  4. 1 2 3 Singh, Rajiv (9 June 2022). "MPL: Forging A League Of Its Own". Forbes India. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  5. ↑ Rai, Saritha (15 September 2021). "Gaming-Contest App Becomes Unicorn After Lockdowns Drive Growth". bloomberg. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  6. ↑ "Mobile Premier League acquires GamingMonk; launches Esports arena". The Economic Times. 20 April 2021. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  7. ↑ Soni, Yatti (20 September 2021). "MPL's India biz turns break even; eyes global expansion". thehindubusinessline. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  8. ↑ publisher (8 October 2024). "New Research Waves Red Flag Over Gaming Scams Aimed at Kids". TechNewsWorld. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
  9. ↑ Bhushan, Kul (30 May 2022). "Indian gaming unicorn MPL lays off 100 staff, exits Indonesia". techinasia. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  10. ↑ Tewari, Saumya (1 July 2021). "Esports firm Mobile Premier League launches operations in US market". mint. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  11. ↑ Laghate, Gaurav (28 February 2022). "Mobile Premier League acquires German games studio GameDuell". The Economic Times. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  12. ↑ Dilipkumar, Bhavya (30 May 2022). "Mobile Premier League to lay off 100 workers, exit Indonesia". The Economic Times. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  13. ↑ "Byju's, MPL want to exit sponsorship deal with BCCI". mint. 22 December 2022. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  14. ↑ "BCCI announces MPL Sports as official Kit sponsor for Indian cricket team". Business Standard India. PTI. 17 November 2020. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  15. ↑ "Tokyo 2020: IOA ropes in MPL, Amul as sponsors". The Hindu. PTI. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  16. ↑ Salz, Peggy Anne (9 April 2020). "The New Playtime: The Secret To MPL's Massive Mobile Success". Forbes. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
  17. ↑ Abrar, Peerzada (15 September 2021). "Gaming start-up Mobile Premier League valued at $2.3 bn, joins unicorn club". Business Standard India. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  18. ↑ Paul, Binu (15 September 2021). "MPL becomes India's second gaming unicorn after Dream11". Business Today. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.