Sachin Tendulkar Backs Cricket-Focussed NFT Startup Rario

Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar has made an equity financing investment in cricket-focused NFT platform Rario. Following the development, Rario will offer Tendulkar’s exclusive digital collectibles on its platform.

Founded in 2021 by IIT graduates Ankit Wadhwa and Sunny Bhanot, Rario is a licenced digital collectibles platform. It allows cricket fans to collect as well as trade cricket NFTs.  

“It is exciting to see NFT technology bringing fans closer to sports, giving them an opportunity to treasure their favourite moments. The team at Rario was committed to building a cricket community using technology. I am therefore happy to partner with the team, to launch my digital collectibles exclusively on the Rario platform,” said Sachin Tendulkar.

Rario claims to have exclusive partnerships with cricket boards and cricket tournaments including Cricket Australia, New Zealand Cricket, Big Bash League, Women’s Big Bash League, Super Smash and Hero Caribbean Premier League, among others.

This Gurugram-based NFT startup has a roster of more than 900 international cricketers and over 30 exclusive brand ambassadors.

“Rario is committed to sustainability. With this objective, we moved our infrastructure to Proof-of-Authority Rario Chain, which translates to greater environmental friendliness and a significantly lower carbon footprint,” said Sunny Bhanot, cofounder and Chief Technology Officer, Rario.

The startup plans to use the raised funds in building digital games and improve the experience of NFT users.

In April, the startup secured $120 Mn funding from Alpha Wave Global, Kingsway Capital, Presight Capital and Dream Capital, among others. So far, it claims to have sold over 150,000 NFTs to sports fans across 75+ countries.

According to the startup, NFTs are set to become a $50 Bn market in the next few years.

FanCraze, Lysto and Faze are some of the startups operating in the NFT sector. 

As per a report, the Indian NFT market is pegged at $3.3 Bn in 2022. The industry is set to grow at a CAGR of 44.1% to reach $27 Bn by 2028.

Cricketers backing startups is catching up lately. Besides this investment deal, Tendulkar has also backed several other Indian startups including Unacademy, Spinny and Smartron, among others.  

More examples include, cricket veteran Anil Kumble infused money into the health insurance startup Onsurity earlier this month. Prior to this, women cricketer Smriti Mandhana backed ayurvedic startup Neem Ayu in July.

Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Kapil Dev, Gautam Gambhir, Sourav Ganguly and Mohit Sharma are some of the other cricketers that have made startup investments in the last few years.