Ashneer Grover launches fantasy sports app CrickPe ahead of IPL

New Delhi, March 24

Ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 that begins from March 31, Ashneer Grover's new venture Third Unicorn has launched a fantasy sports app called CrickPe that aims to take on Dream11 and Mobile Premier League (MPL).

"Biggest revolution in Cricket since IPL - only fantasy game paying cricketers for performance. Where you win, cricketer wins, cricket wins," Grover said in a tweet.

CrickPe will levy a 10 per cent platform fee of the total funds received for any public or private contest.

It allows players above 18 years of age to create a virtual team of cricket players and enter paid contests to earn cash prizes.

"It is the only fantasy cricket app in the world where with every match, the actual playing cricketers, cricketing bodies and real team owners win cash rewards, along with the fantasy game winners," according to its description on Google Play Store.

The online fantasy sports market is currently dominated by Dream11.

Former BharatPe Co-founder and Managing Director Grover and his wife Madhuri Jain Grover launched CrickPe to grab a pie of the growing fantasy sports market.

According to a report by the Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports (FIFS) in collaboration with Deloitte, India's fantasy sports market is likely to grow from Rs 34,600 crore in FY21 to an estimated Rs 1,65,000 crore by FY25, registering a CAGR of 38 per cent.

India is the world's biggest fantasy sports market with a user base of more than 13 crore.

Grover's Third Unicorn has been building a "market shaking" business which is "bootstrapped" and "without limelight", according to a recent LinkedIn post by Ashneer.

According to data accessed through Tofler, the Grovers last year registered the new company. The firm had a total paid-up capital of Rs 10 lakh and an authorised share capital of Rs 20 lakh.

Grover had said he was planning to start his own venture without seeking funds from the investors.