Cricket NFT platform Rario raises $120 million

Rario announced in a release on Thursday that it has raised $120 million in Series A funding round led by Dream Capital.   

Alpha Wave Global also participated in the round, and now joins existing investors Animoca Brands (Global leader in Web3 gaming), Presight Capital, and Kingsway Capital. Rario currently has the largest share of cricket NFT rights globally through exclusive partnerships with six international cricket leagues and a roster of 900+ cricketers. After this funding round, Rario has access to 140 Million users via Dream Capital. 

The cricket NFT platform had also recently signed one of the world’s largest cricket NFT deals; a multi-year exclusive partnership with Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers’ Association to create an Australian cricket metaverse of collectibles and gaming. 

Commenting on the latest funding round, Ankit Wadhwa, co-founder and CEO, Rario said, “Cricket is the 2nd largest sport in the world with more than 1.5bn fans globally. NFTs are creating new forms of engagement allowing fans to own and trade digital collectibles. Rario’s global cricket NFT ecosystem will be further strengthened by the 140M sports fans on Dream Sports.” 

Speaking on the investment, Dev Bajaj, Chief Strategy Officer, Dream Sports, said, “DreamCap is glad to partner with Rario to help sports fans engage deeper with their favorite players and teams.  Web3 use cases in sports are transformational, and we are looking to back more startups in the space globally with innovative utilities of NFTs."