Sports Community Platform Rooter Raises $1.7 Mn From Paytm, leAD Sports

Sports Community Platform Rooter Raises $1.7 Mn From Paytm, leAD Sports

SUMMARY

Paytm First Games and Rooter will form a strategic partnership around content and gaming

Rooter plans to use the founding to grow its user base and roll out new content models

The sports community platform is looking to introduce more monetisation channel models for users

Sports community platform Rooter has raised $1.7 Mn in Pre-Series A funding round from digital payments platform Paytm, Adidas family backed fund leAD Sports, Rockstud Capital and Founder Bank Capital, an early stage investment arm of RB Investments. Anthill Ventures, Venture Catalysts and a few angel investors also participated in the round.

Both Paytm First Games and Rooter will be entering a strategic partnership, under which they will collaborate to boost cricket, fantasy sports, esports and gaming ecosystem through seamless integration across gaming and content.

Besides this, Rooter plans to use this funding to grow its user base over the next one year and capitalise on the company’s upcoming esports, gaming content and communities. The new content strategy will also allow Rooter to launch user monetisation channels, which will be an expansion of its advertising monetisation and gifting economy monetisation models.

“We continue to grow our content offerings through gaming and the addition of Rooter’s communities and user-generated content will further enhance the use cases available on our platform. In the coming months, we will add more interactive content around fantasy sports, Esports, and games while bringing benefits of the Paytm ecosystem to Rooter,” Sudhanshu Gupta, COO of Paytm First Games, said.

The company, launched in 2016 by Piyush Agarwal and Dipesh Agarwal, started its journey as a Live Sports Gaming platform, but pivoted to content in 2019. It currently has a user base of over 8 Mn.

“We started Rooter with the objective of creating a sports fan community and we are glad our pivot to content has found a strong product-market fit. Our engagement metrics and user growth have been excellent in the last two quarters,” Piyush added.

Fantasy Gaming Takes A Hit 

The Covid-19 outbreak has given rise to a new generation of digital gamers across the world. This new generation of gamers are not only focusing on hardcore gaming experience, but has also been looking into casual gaming.

According to an AppsFlyer report, gaming apps have enjoyed a revenue spike in recent weeks, particularly among casual games whose revenue climbed 18% this week and 39% the week before.

Meanwhile, the fantasy sports segment has taken a hit with all live sports events such as the Tokyo Olympics and Indian Premier League (IPL) have been cancelled. With this, many fantasy gaming companies have revamped their marketing plans and spending structures. However, lack of live games has piqued people’s interest in esports.

Esports include team-based or solo competitive gaming such as Fortnite, League of Legends, Counter-Strike, Call of Duty, Overwatch and Madden NFL among others.

You have reached your limit of free stories
Become An Inc42 Plus Member

Become a Startup Insider in 2024 with Inc42 Plus. Join our exclusive community of 10,000+ founders, investors & operators and stay ahead in India’s startup & business economy.

2 YEAR PLAN
₹19999
₹7999
₹333/Month
Unlock 60% OFF
Cancel Anytime
1 YEAR PLAN
₹9999
₹4999
₹416/Month
Unlock 50% OFF
Cancel Anytime
Already A Member?
Discover Startups & Business Models

Unleash your potential by exploring unlimited articles, trackers, and playbooks. Identify the hottest startup deals, supercharge your innovation projects, and stay updated with expert curation.

Sports Community Platform Rooter Raises $1.7 Mn From Paytm, leAD Sports-Inc42 Media
How-To’s on Starting & Scaling Up

Empower yourself with comprehensive playbooks, expert analysis, and invaluable insights. Learn to validate ideas, acquire customers, secure funding, and navigate the journey to startup success.

Sports Community Platform Rooter Raises $1.7 Mn From Paytm, leAD Sports-Inc42 Media
Identify Trends & New Markets

Access 75+ in-depth reports on frontier industries. Gain exclusive market intelligence, understand market landscapes, and decode emerging trends to make informed decisions.

Sports Community Platform Rooter Raises $1.7 Mn From Paytm, leAD Sports-Inc42 Media
Track & Decode the Investment Landscape

Stay ahead with startup and funding trackers. Analyse investment strategies, profile successful investors, and keep track of upcoming funds, accelerators, and more.

Sports Community Platform Rooter Raises $1.7 Mn From Paytm, leAD Sports-Inc42 Media
Sports Community Platform Rooter Raises $1.7 Mn From Paytm, leAD Sports-Inc42 Media
You’re in Good company