Srestha RoyRario, the company behind the world’s first cricket NFT platform, has raised USD 120 million (about Rs 914 crore) in a Series-A investment headed by Dream Capital, Dream Sports’ corporate venture capital arm, and Alpha Wave Capital.
Through exclusive collaborations with six major cricket leagues and a roster of over 900 cricketers, Rario claims to have the greatest proportion of cricket NFT (non-fungible token) rights in the world.
Rario now has access to Dream Sports’ 140 million customers, who will be offered FIAT-only products, thanks to Dream Capital’s financing, the firm said in a statement on Thursday.
Alpha Wave Global, formerly Falcon Edge Capital, joined current investors Animoca Brands, a global leader in web3 gaming, Presight Capital, and Kingsway Capital in the round, according to the release.
Rario, founded in 2021 by IIT Delhi students Ankit Wadhwa and Sunny Bhanot, recently inked a multi-year exclusive relationship with Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers’ Association to build an Australian cricket metaverse of collectibles and gameplay.
Rario brings cricket fans together as a community by allowing them to own a piece of history in the form of digital artifacts such as player cards, video moments, and cricket relics.
Sports fans can purchase, sell, and trade NFTs through Rario using only FIAT-based methods such as credit cards, debit cards, and bank transfers. Rario has sold over 50,000 NFTs to sports fans in 20 nations, with the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and India being the top four.
Dream Capital is a venture capital firm that invests in sports, gaming, and fitness-tech firms. It was founded in 2020. Rario brings Dream Capital’s portfolio to nine firms, and it represents Dream Sports’ first venture into the web3 space.
This is Dream Capital’s largest investment to date, as well as the single largest investment in the cricket NFT area worldwide.
Rario’s worldwide cricket NFT ecosystem will be bolstered by the 140 million sports enthusiasts on Dream Sports, according to Ankit Wadhwa, co-founder and CEO.
Rario is a non-fungible digital collection platform that allows cricket enthusiasts to collect and trade officially licensed cricket moments on the blockchain. Rario is built on the Polygon Network by a top-notch team and backed by reputable investors such as Kingsway Capital and Presight Capital, with Polygon Studios and Animoca as partners.