Fantasy gaming app Dream11 has invested in sports startup Khelomore with a put and a call option giving it the ability to acquire the company at a later stage, according to sources privy to the development.
While the exact size of the deal couldn't be ascertained, it is expected to be around $4-$6 million.
Khelomore was founded by Paranjape, a former cricketer in 2016 and works as an aggregator of sports coaches and academies across Indian cities.
Paranjape had made his Ranji debut in 1992 and is known for his performance for India in 1998, in Toronto. However, he had to take a back seat as a player after he injured his ankle.
"Khelomore is in the business of having a community for cricket that goes hand in hand with Dream11's core business which is going beyond fantasy sports," said one of the sources mentioned above requesting anonymity.
In August, Dream Sports - the parent of Dream11 - launched a $250 million fund to invest in sports, gaming and fitness-tech startups in its latest attempt to diversify and attract more users.
According to the source mentioned above, the Khelomore investment happened before the company announced the fund. It couldn't immediately be ascertained if this entity was involved in the deal. Dream Capital, the corporate and mergers and acquisitions arm invests between $1 million and $100 million across stages, is open to taking minority stakes or even acquiring companies outright.
Dream Capital is funded by Dream Sports balance sheet- which means that the TPG-backed unicorn is using its reserve profits to invest in such new initiatives.
"We don't comment on speculation," said Dream Sports spokesperson.
Paranjape did not immediately respond to media queries.
Dream Sports claims to be having a collective user base of 125 million sports fans.
Besides Khelomore, it has made eight investments so far, including names like DreamGameStudios, a mobile gaming studio, SoStronk - an esports platform for competitive gamers and Elevar - a performance sports footwear and equipment brand.
Its other large investment also includes FanCode, a subscription-based sports streaming platform.
Moneycontrol earlier also reported about SoStronk investment.
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