Harsha Bhogle Invests In Online Cricket Gaming Platform Hitwicket

Online cricket gaming startup Hitwicket has secured an undisclosed amount of strategic investment from Indian cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle.

Bhogle’s investment is an extension of the company’s $3 Mn funding round, led by Prime Venture Partners in 2022. 

As part of the deal, the startup will leverage Bhogle’s extensive knowledge and fanbase in the arena of cricket to shore up Hitwicket’s global reach. With this partnership, the startup is eyeing 50 Mn downloads in the next 2 years from the current 5 Mn+ level.

Founded in 2015 by Keerti Singh and Kashyap Reddy, Hitwicket’s flagship offering is a strategy-based virtual multiplayer cricket game. The platform, available on both Play Store and Apple Store, deploys artificial intelligence (AI) and data analysis to drive up user engagement. It allows users to play the role of an owner, coach, and captain of a cricket team.

Speaking with Inc42, Hitwicket CEO and cofounder Reddy said that Bhogle will play the role of a strategic investor and drive the startup’s content marketing push moving forward. 

The investment will see Hitwicket co-create social media videos in partnership with Bhogle. As per Reddy, these content pieces will see Bhogle dissect historic cricket matches and discuss match strategies. 

He added that the content will plug in the game where users can employ their strategies to potentially change the outcome.

Commenting on the investment, the veteran commentator said, “I’m thrilled to join Hitwicket as an investor and contribute to the evolution of mobile cricket gaming… I’m looking forward to Hitwicket’s potential to be the ‘Made in India’ cricket game that unites India with the rest of the world and elevates the country’s profile in mobile cricket gaming”.

Meanwhile, the game continues to see healthy traction. As per the startup, users on the online gaming platform spend an average of 4.9 hours per week on the app. With a fifth of its user base women, Hitwicket also claims to have players in 109 countries. India, Australia, the UK and the US are its top four markets.

“Hitwicket has managed to create a gateway for American audiences to understand the sport as they have grown 2X in the last 3 months in the market, with 40% of the users experiencing cricket for the very first time,” the startup said in a statement.

Hitwicket has so far raised nearly $4 Mn in capital and is backed by names such as Shead Investment, TicketGoose, and Prime Venture Partners. 

It is pertinent to note that this is not Bhogle’s first investment in an Indian startup. In the past, he also invested in fantasy sports platform Fantasy Akhada in 2020 and followed it up by backing another online gaming startup Bowled.io in January 2023. 

The development comes as the Indian Premier League (IPL) mania has gripped the country and the startups are leaving no stone unturned to woo the tournament viewers. While Dream11 onboarded 11 Lakh new users on Day 1 of the tournament, Reliance-backed streaming major JioCinema saw 11.3 Cr viewers logging on the platform to watch matches on the first day of the IPL 2024.

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