Exclusive: Ashneer Grover Pulls The Plug On Fantasy Cricket Platform CrickPe

Ashneer Grover-led fantasy cricket platform CrickPe has halted operations within a couple of years of its launch.

The fantasy platform, which was the first product of Grover’s startup Third Unicorn, was launched ahead of the start of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2023. However, it has stopped rolling out new contests.

“We’ve had an amazing innings together, While we won’t be rolling out new contests on the app anymore, this is just a timeout,” a message on the CrickPe app shows.

However, Grover hinted that Third Unicorn has decided to look at other opportunities beyond CrickPe.

Responding to Inc42’s questions, he said, “CrickPe has been halted end 2024 as we are not keen on the space given misplaced connotation of gambling with gaming in India and imposition of 28% GST last year. We had great fun with the space but feel it’s best for incumbents like Dream11 and others and the economics of the business does not have scope for incentivising the cricketers out of the game pot – which was our initial idea.” 

While there are no new contests on the app, the platform shows the option for users to withdraw their winning balance.

CrickPe differentiated itself in the crowded fantasy gaming market by positioning itself as a platform that would give a certain portion of the winning pot to the cricketers involved in the match and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), besides the users. 

Explaining the business model, Grover, around the time of the launch of CrickPe, told Inc42 in an interview, “In general, in cricket fantasy apps, from a pot of INR 100 Cr, INR 20 Cr is reserved by the platform and INR 80 Cr is distributed in the prize pool. My core question is why are cricketers not being paid from this total. So we have tried to do it this way: INR 80 Cr as winnings for users, INR 10 Cr will be kept as a profit pool by the app and INR 10 Cr will be distributed to cricket bodies and cricketers.”

At the time, he was so bullish on the business model that he went on to say that he would “make sure Dream11, MPL will move into this”.

However, CrickPe seems to have failed to make a mark in the crowded fantasy cricket segment.

GST Woes Of Gaming Companies

Besides the intense competition in the fantasy space, which has the presence of startups like Dream11, MPL, My11Circle, among others, the GST Council’s decision to levy a 28% GST on full face value of bets for online real-money gaming hit CrickPe’s plans. 

The 28% GST regime came into effect on October 1, 2023. Prior to that, a lower 18% GST was levied on the platform fee for skill-based games.

The outspoken Grover has been a vocal critic of the 28% GST regime. In an old post on X, which he later deleted, Grover said that the 28% GST murdered the online gaming industry. 

Besides the increase in taxation, the online gaming companies have been saddled with GST notices worth over INR 1 Lakh Cr. In some respite to these companies, the Supreme Court, last month, put a temporary halt on GST proceedings against 49 real-money gaming companies. 

Multiple gaming companies, including Gameskraft, Dream11, Games 24×7, and Head Digital Works, had moved the SC against the retrospective demand notices issued to them, seeking taxes on the full face value of bets placed through their gaming platforms.

The high taxation and regulatory concerns seem to have forced Third Unicorn to halt CrickPe. 

What’s Next For Third Unicorn? 

Founded in 2023 by Grover, his wife Madhuri Jain and Aseem Ghavri, Third Unicorn raised $5 Mn in its seed round at a valuation of $39 Mn from Venture Catalysts, Haldiram family office, rapper Badshah, cricketer Shikhar Dhawan’s venture capital fund Da-One Ventures and Mumbai-based content creator firm Super Fat Studios.

The startup has now turned its focus on its other platform ZeroPe, a lending tech platform which provides loans for medical treatments.

Grover said that ZeroPe has found its product-market fit, adding that it has more than 1 lakh organic downloads, 1,000 hospital / healthcare providers as partners, and a rating of 4.6 on iOS and Android. 

Customers can choose any hospital from ZeroPe’s partners’ list and get instant loans of up to INR 5 Lakh digitally for medical treatments. Delhi-based NBFC Mukut Finvest is the lending partner for ZeroPe.

“We are providing EMI across healthcare providers across skin, dental, aesthetics, hair implant and IVF, making it affordable for people (to get treatment), especially for things not covered with insurance,” Grover said.

He added that the startup is well funded and he would continue to infuse more capital into ZeroPe from his personal wealth “to make it a leader in healthcare financing in India”.

With this, the former BharatPe MD has turned back his focus to the fintech market. On the back of rising interest penetration and access to smartphones, India’s fintech market has grown by leaps and bounds over the last decade.

Within the fintech sector, the lending tech segment is projected to clock 22% CAGR during 2024-2030 to reach a size of $1.3 Tn by the end of this period. Grover and Third Unicorn are eyeing a share in this burgeoning market.