27 August 2018, India:
Live-Sports Social Engagement Platform Rooter has raised ₹4.5 crore in pre-Series A round of funding. The funding round was led by a group of investors of integrated incubator platform Venture Catalysts. Venture Catalysts’ investors Khalid Al Tawil, Anjali Malhotra from Aviva, Pranay Nigotiya, Vishal Agarwal, Nishil Agarwal, Tharun Dhariwal and Vivek Awasthi participated in the funding round.
The company will use the fresh capital to expand its user base, offer a multi-lingual experience on apps and launch web products. The company is also planning an international expansion.
Dr. Apoorv Ranjan Sharma, co-founder and President, Venture Catalysts, said, “We had identified the massive potential and the game-changing ability of Rooter very early in its journey. During our Investor Pitch Day in Dubai, Rooter was one of the 6 promising start-ups selected for capital funding on the back of its disruptive model and how it had altered the way sports fans connect with one another. Since then, it has gone from strength to strength and has recently emerged as the first and only Indian start-up to be selected for the Adidas family-backed 2018 leAD Sports Accelerator Program. We are pleased to formally come onboard as an investor in Rooter.”
Piyush Kumar, founder and CEO, Rooter, said, “At Rooter, we have had the singular vision of transforming the sports engagement landscape of India. Since our early days, we have received tremendous support and guidance from the VCats’ team on the best ways to achieve this vision. We are delighted that Venture Catalysts has shown trust and faith in our business approach yet again. With the freshly-infused capital, we aim to further expand the reach and appeal of Rooter and establish it on a global stage as the definitive sports engagement platform.”
(Image – Owler)