Dream Sports, the parent firm of fantasy sports platform Dream11, has raised USD 400 million in the latest funding round, taking its valuation to USD five billion.

The secondary investment round was led by TCV, D1 Capital Partners and Falcon Edge Capital. Dream Sports’ earlier investors Tiger Global, TPG Growth, Steadview Capital and Footpath Ventures also participated in the financing round.

Avendus Capital was the financial advisor to Dream Sports on the transaction.

In recent years, a plethora of new investors have been attracted to the growing online gaming market of India and, notably, California-based TCV was an early backer of Airbnb and Netflix and Dream Sports is its first investment in India.

"India is home to the world's largest and most energetic sports fan base with a dynamic mix that is unique to the subcontinent. Dream Sports is serving this community with a highly innovative product offering,” said Gopi Vaddi, general partner at TCV.

Apart from fantasy gaming platform Dream11, Mumbai-headquartered Dream Sports boasts several other startups in its portfolio, including multi-sports aggregator FanCode, sports travel and experiences platform DreamSetGo, payment solutions DreamPay, and an investment program called DreamX.

Dream Sports had raised USD 225 million last September in secondary sales - a process through which a new investor purchases shares from existing investors. 

“The fact that we are doing only secondaries right now signals two things. One is that we have enough growth capital internally, like good companies should, at this mature stage. Then, we are excited to give our early-stage investors very handsome returns. This will further improve the VC ecosystem in India,” Jain told the Times of India.  

The latest funding round has taken place before the new season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), which is one of the busiest periods for fantasy gaming platforms.

Dream11 was the title sponsor of IPL 2020 and is the official partner for IPL 2021.