New Delhi-based sports social gaming startup Rooter, has raised ₹4.5 crores in pre-series A funding from a number of investors through the integrated startup incubator Venture Catalysts.
The investors that participated in the round include Khalid Al Tawil, Anjali Malhotra from Aviva, Pranay Nigotiya, Vishal Agarwal, Nishil Agarwal, Tharun Dhariwal and Vivek Awasthi.
The freshly infused funds will be used to expand to other global markets, as it expands userbase, and launches new web products.
“This is a precursor to a big Series A round, which we are going to raise on November 12 when we will pitch in front of over 50 investors at the Adidas family-backed 2018 leAD Sports Accelerator Program,” Piyush, CEO and co-founder at Rooter.
Rooter was founded by Akshat Goel and Piyush Kumar in 2016. It provides a platform for sports fans to connect with each other and compete in various games, to enhance social engagement.
The platform covers eight sports including cricket, tennis, basketball, football, motorsport, kabaddi, hockey, and badminton, engaging more than 1.6 million fans.
Talking about the investment, Piyush Kumar, Co-Founder & CEO, Rooter, said, “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 Venture Catalysts’ team on the best ways to achieve this vision. We are delighted that they have shown trust and faith in our business approach yet again.”
So far, the startup has raised funds from Intex Technologies in March 2017, along with a clutch of angel investors including Bollywood actor Boman Irani, Dhruv Chitgopekar, Prantik Dasgupta, and digital agency Interactive Avenues co-founder Anjali Hegde in October 2016.