Mobile Premier League (MPL) is an online gaming platform. It is based in Bengaluru,

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Founded in 2018 by Srinivas Kiran and Shubham Malhotra, the company currently offers 60 games in categories such as fantasy sports, sports games, puzzle, casual and board games.

History

MPL was founded by Sai Srinivas Kiran and Shubham Malhotra in 2018, initially offering

puzzle games Puzzle video games make up a broad genre of video games that emphasize puzzle solving. The types of puzzles can test problem-solving skills, including logic, pattern recognition, sequence solving, spatial recognition, and word completion. ...

and casual games and expanding to

fantasy sports A fantasy sport (also known less commonly as rotisserie or roto) is a game, often played using the Internet, where participants assemble imaginary or virtual teams composed of proxies of real players of a professional sport. These teams compete bas ...

the following year. The company connects game publishers with users via its app platform. In 2021, the company bought over GamingMonk, an esports community platform. The company currently offers 60 games in categories such as fantasy sports, sports games, puzzle, casual and board games. Given that certain games are banned in certain jurisdictions, the company has had to alter its offerings based on the users region. It employs over 800 people spread across offices in Bengaluru,

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

and New York. The company claims to have over 90 million registered users on its platform.

Geographic presence

MPL began as a mobile gaming application in India. In it expanded to Indonesia, its second country market in 2019. In 2021, the company entered a third country when it launched operations in

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. In 2022, the company bought out GameDuell, a games studio based in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

thus giving it an entry into the European market. As a part of cutbacks in 2022, the company announced it would exit the Indonesian market amongst other measures.

Partnerships and brand ambassador

In 2019 the company became a broadcast partner for the

Indian Premier League The Indian Premier League (IPL), also known as TATA IPL for sponsorship reasons, is a men's T20 franchise cricket league of India. It is annually contested by ten teams based out of seven Indian cities and three Indian states. The leagu ...

. It also signed up cricketer

Virat Kohli Virat Kohli (; born 5 November 1988) is an Indian international cricketer and former captain of the India national cricket team. Widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of all time, Kohli plays as a right-handed batter for Royal Challe ...

as a brand ambassador.In 2020, the company became sponsors for

Royal Challengers Bangalore Royal Challengers Bangalore (often abbreviated as RCB) are a franchise cricket team based in Bangalore, Karnataka, that plays in the Indian Premier League (IPL). It was founded in 2008 by United Spirits and named after the company's liquor ...

and

Kolkata Knight Riders Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are a franchise cricket team representing the city of Kolkata in the Indian Premier League. The franchise is owned by Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, actress Juhi Chawla and her spouse Jay Mehta. The Knight Riders ...

in the

. In November 2020 MPL Sports, a merchandise brand which is a part of MPL became the official kit sponsor of the Indian Men's Cricket Team,

Indian Women's Cricket Team The India women's national cricket team, also known as Team India or Women in Blue, represents India in women's international cricket. It is governed by Board of Control for Cricket in India India made its Test debut in 1976, against the West ...

, and Indian Under-19 Cricket Team till 2023. The deal also gives the company the rights to sell official Team India merchandise. In 2021, MPL Sports Foundation was announced as the principal sponsor of the Indian contingent participating in the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

2022 Asian Games The 2022 Asian Games (), officially known as the 19th Asian Games (), also known as Hangzhou 2022, ( zh, c=杭州2022, p=Hángzhōu Èr líng èr èr), will be a multi-sport event celebrated in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. Hangzhou will be the t ...

and

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England bet ...

under a partnership with the

Indian Olympic Association The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) or Indian Olympic Committee (IOC) is the body responsible for selecting athletes to represent India at the Olympic Games, Asian Games and other international athletic meets and for managing the Indian teams ...

Funding

MPL counts Sequoia Capital, Go Ventures, RTP Global, Go-Ventures, Moore Strategic Ventures, Play Ventures, Base Partners, Telstra Ventures, Founders Circle Capital, and

Times Internet Times Internet is an Indian internet technology company, based in Gurgaon, which owns, operates and invests in various internet-led products, services and technology. It is the digital arm of the Times Group, the largest media conglomerate in I ...

amongst its investors. In 2021, it became India's second gaming unicorn when it raised funding in its Series E round at a valuation of $2.3 billion from Legatum Capital, RTP Global, Go-Ventures, Play Ventures, Base Partners, Founders Circle Capital and existing investors.

References

{{Reflist Fantasy sports websites Companies based in Bangalore