Esports & Gaming

eSports Funding: GoodGamer Closes INR 14 Cr Seed Round Reaches 250K Users in 1st Month

The Vancouver based fantasy gaming platform has raked in INR 14 crores, had a month of success, and is set to release new features to lure in Indian users.

GoodGamer Corp., a daily fantasy sports and eSports gaming platform, closed a seed funding round for gross proceeds of INR 14 crore (CA $2.5 million). GoodGamer plans to use the gross proceeds from the financing almost exclusively for user acquisition.

The platform launched last month in India with its fantasy gaming app that included games like cricket and CS:GO. They have plans to add football, Valorant, Dota 2, a quiz game and Indian Rummy before 2021. They also signed an advertising agreement with Disney + Hotstar. Within one month, the fantasy gaming app has reached 250,000 registered users.

One of my fondest memories will always be sending that first batch of payouts to our daily fantasy winners. To go from that to over 250,000 registered users in less than a month is just exhilarating

“The uptake of our platform by the market has been overwhelming to say the least. We couldn’t be happier with our first month. One of my fondest memories will always be sending that first batch of payouts to our daily fantasy winners. To go from that to over 250,000 registered users in less than a month is just exhilarating,” Charles Creighton, CEO of GoodGamer, said in a statement.

“Growing pains and late nights have brought our team together and helped create a more cohesive, organized whole. With the help of our seed investors, we’re now able to focus on user acquisition and scale,” he added.

The results from our first month of operations have proven to us what we always knew. India is a great market for us. We are grateful to be in business here

“The results from our first month of operations have proven to us what we always knew. India is a great market for us. We are grateful to be in business here. While we will continue to push for growth, we also want to make sure our users have the best experience we can give them,” Ravi Nagarajachar, VP of Operations for India, said.

Prop Contests

The platform is also set to announce its prop (proposition) contests, making it the world’s first fantasy cricket app to offer that feature.

Prop contests are based on specific events during the game that are independent of the final outcome. They are now one of the fastest-growing segments of the US sports gaming industry. Unlike traditional Indian daily fantasy sports (DFS) contests, where many matches result in a tie because only two teams are available to users, GoodGamer prop contests introduce several additional factors that affect the number of points awarded to each user’s team, and hence the outcome of the DFS contest.

Not only does the first experience have to be great, but so does the third, fifth, and tenth as our users branch out and try new things within the app

Prop contests allow users to utilize more of their skills and knowledge to build a team based not only on how they expect their roster to perform in traditional scoring, but also on the props that are selected for each player (wickets, centuries, etc.). With the reduction in ties, the individual prize pools will not be divided up into as many players, maximizing a player’s winnings.

Other New features

Other never-before-seen features being added to the fantasy app in the coming months include in-depth player injury reports and player injury alerts; an AI-based lineup optimizer; and private contests, where the contest creators can earn a commission for creating and managing the contests.

“We’re introducing a number of new experiences and skills-based gaming styles that Indian users haven’t seen before, including prop contests. Not only does the first experience have to be great, but so does the third, fifth, and tenth as our users branch out and try new things within the app. We want to help users find new styles of skills-based games and contests that keep them challenged and entertained,” Nagarajachar said.

GoodGamer Fantasy is now running a Guaranteed 1 lakh daily prize pool with only an INR 1 entry fee.

Navanwita Bora Sachdev

Navanwita is the editor of The Tech Panda who also frequently publishes stories in news outlets such as The Indian Express, Entrepreneur India, and The Business Standard