Dream11-backed Rario's founders 'being pushed out' after $120mn funding: Report

New Delhi, Sep 8

The founders of Dream11-backed non-fungible token (NFT) startup Rario, which counts Sachin Tendulkar as a strategic investor, are reportedly leaving the company.

According to a TechCrunch report, citing sources, Ankit Wadhwa, CEO of Rario, and Sunny Bhanot, Rario CTO "are being pushed out as investors at the startup, including largest backer Dream11".

Several other jobs at Rario are also being reportedly eliminated, according to the report.

World's first cricket non-fungible token (NFT) platform Rario had raised $120 million led by Dream Capital, the VC and M&A arm of Dream Sports.

The changes at Rario come as Dream Sports, the parent firm of Dream11, is "making significant deliberations to cut costs".

Rario and Dream11 did not immediately comment on the TechCrunch report.

In April this year, Consumer Online Foundation wrote to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to investigate the business activities of Rario and its compliance with Indian taxation laws with respect to virtual digital assets, crypto currency and anti-money laundering (AML) laws.

Bejon Kumar Mishra, Managing Trustee, Consumer Online Foundation said in the letter to Sitharaman that as per its official website, Rario refers to itself as the world's first and largest licensed digital cricket collectible platform, dedicated to bringing the fans closer to the sport like never before.

In reality, Rario is an NFT and Cryptocurrency platform, a fact which is not obvious to a visitor to their website.

"Our initial study has revealed that Rario violated the applicable taxation provisions of virtual digital assets and crypto currency in India. It is observed that in all transactions in Rario the consumers are misled in a deceptive manner by adopting unethical marketing practices, which are not only deemed as unfair trade practices but also violating the rights of the consumer," Mishra had said.