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Tag: Dream Sports

  • Nishant Nayak becomes FanCode’s chief product officer

    Nishant Nayak becomes FanCode’s chief product officer

    MUMBAI: Digital sports fan destination FanCode from the house of Dream Sports, has appointed Nishant Nayak as its chief product officer (CPO). He will lead the product strategy to realise FanCode’s vision of becoming the largest sports fan platform in the country.

    Prior to joining FanCode, he was based in Berlin, Germany as Zenjob head of product. He brings with him over 20 years of global experience in product & technology. His expertise lies in leading end-to-end product functions for eCommerce marketplaces like eBay, Flipkart, Zalando, and Zenjob, with a focus on aligning products with the brand vision & strategy including market expansion. 

    FanCode co-founder Yannick Colaco said, “We’re pleased to welcome Nishant into our FanCode family. He joins us as a core member of our leadership team and will help us accelerate towards our ambition of becoming a 10 crore+ strong community of sports fans.”

    Nayak said, “As an avid sports fan myself, FanCode’s mission to build India’s biggest digital sports fan destination is a truly exciting challenge. I look forward to working with the highly talented FanCode team in building a personalised and engaging experience for sports fans everywhere.”

  • DreamSetGo joins ICC T20 World Cup 2022 as travel agent

    DreamSetGo joins ICC T20 World Cup 2022 as travel agent

    Mumbai: Premium sports travel and experiences platform DreamSetGo have expanded its portfolio of partners becoming the official travel agent of the much-awaited ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Australia 2022.

    With this partnership, DreamSetGo will provide cricket fans from all over the world the opportunity to guarantee their place at the biennial event with world-class travel and hospitality. The bouquet of packages will include official match tickets, hotel accommodation, intercity transfers, guided tours, access to bespoke events, match-day programmes and other exclusive experiences.

    Speaking on the association, DreamSetGo co-founder and CBO Monish Shah said, “As an Official Travel Agent of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Australia 2022, we will deliver a seamless, end-to-end, and truly world-class experience to cricket fans so they can fully immerse themselves in the action and drama of the T20 showpiece across Australia.”

    DreamSetGo curates end-to-end, authentic sports travel packages across cricket, tennis, motorsports, golf, football and has recently announced exclusive partnerships with leading English football clubs, Chelsea FC and Manchester City, to become their ‘Official Indian Fan Experience Partner’ and ‘Official Football Hospitality Experiences Partner in India’ respectively.

    It also offers multiple personalised experiences with sports celebrities including meet-and-greets, masterclass training sessions, signed merchandise, and virtual events tailored for high engagement.

  • Dream Sports partners with Indian government for The India Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai

    Dream Sports partners with Indian government for The India Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai

    Mumbai: Sports tech company Dream Sports has announced its partnership with the government of India to showcase India’s resurgence as a hub for growth, innovation, and culture at Expo 2020 Dubai. The India Pavilion, one of the largest among 190 participating countries, will display India’s exceptional fight back against Covid-19 and the country’s emergence as a nerve centre for global business.

    Dream Sports will showcase the extensive opportunity that lies at the unique intersection of sports and technology, as well as bring to life the large-scale positive transformation that can be brought about through digital technology and innovation within the Indian sports ecosystem, the company said in a statement.

    At the inauguration of the India Pavilion on Friday, FICCI president Uday Shankar said that India is one of the world’s fastest-growing large economies and the third largest startup ecosystem. The India Pavilion will be a global platform for potential investors to experience this growth, leading opportunities, business achievements, and cultural diversity with cutting-edge technologies, he added.

    “Over the past seven years, the government of India’s vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat and Digital India has reaped benefits with multiple innovation hubs and over 50,000 registered startups, that have set the roadmap for India’s digital journey. Dream Sports is one such success story that truly represents the impact of industry-focused reforms, and the possibilities of digital competencies and advancements that new India can bring to the world,” shared Shankar.

    Expo 2020, which was postponed for a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, will commence on Friday, and conclude on 31 March 2022.

    “We are delighted to support the government of India’s initiatives in digitisation and self-reliance. Our vision is to ‘Make Sports Better’ through the confluence of sports and technology. We want to help build an ecosystem that nurtures the growth of sports in India by engaging fans in a much deeper way than ever before,” said Dream Sports CEO & co-founder Harsh Jain. “We hope to contribute significantly to India’s economy by growing the Fantasy Sports industry, investing in several sports companies, generating employment, and supporting India’s athletes through our grassroots initiatives.”

    The India Pavilion will mirror India’s celebration of 75 years of Independence. Created on the theme of ‘Openness. Opportunity. Growth,’ it will showcase the latest technologies and create an ambient, futuristic environment with installations powered by augmented reality and projection mapping, said the statement.

  • Dream Sports appoints Dhritiman Biswas as VP-public policy & government affairs

    Dream Sports appoints Dhritiman Biswas as VP-public policy & government affairs

    Mumbai: Dream Sports, which owns fantasy sports platform Dream11, has appointed Dhritiman Biswas as vice-president, public policy & government affairs.

    Prior to joining Dream Sports, Biswas was associated with Reliance Foundation as head of corporate affairs for two years.

    Biswas posted a note on LinkedIn on Wednesday announcing his move. “Joining my Dream run. Game on,” he said.

    Biswas is a government relations professional who brings about two decades of demonstrated experience in government affairs, public affairs, public policy, regulatory affairs, communications & crisis communications, grassroots advocacy, and coalition/industry association management. 

    Previously, he has worked with companies like Asian Paints, Abbott, Walmart, Bharti Retail Ltd (Easyday), and Burson Marsteller.

  • Dream Sports’ FanCode to exclusively broadcast ECB’s ‘The Hundred’ in India

    Dream Sports’ FanCode to exclusively broadcast ECB’s ‘The Hundred’ in India

    Mumbai: Dream Sports’ FanCode has bagged exclusive four-year broadcast rights for England and Wales Cricket Board’s (ECB) new format cricket competition, The Hundred. The partnership between ECB and Dream Sports, the parent company of both Dream11 and FanCode, is a comprehensive sports deal with FanCode as an official broadcast partner in India and Dream11 an official partner.

    The action-packed 100-ball cricket competition will include 68 matches played over five weeks starting 21 July. In an entirely new format of cricket, ECB’s The Hundred has eight women’s and men’s teams from major cities across England and Wales. A 25-ball powerplay for each team will allow two fielders outside of the initial 30-yard circle. Each of the eight squads will have 15 players with a maximum of three overseas stars.

    FanCode will provide a personalised sports experience to Indian sports fans through many user-first features for all the LIVE action from The Hundred. Some of these offerings include interactive data overlays, fastest ad-free live scores, multimedia commentary, in-depth sports statistics and analytics, real-time match highlights, multiple audio feeds, and much more, the platform said in a statement.

    “The Hundred is a new, innovative, cricket competition featuring some of the world’s top players, and we’re excited that fans in India will be able to enjoy the action,” said ECB’s chief commercial officer Tony Singh. “We’re sure it will be a big hit with fans across the globe. As both FanCode and Dream11 are at the forefront of transforming digital sports engagement and experience in India, we are thrilled to partner with them to bring the most comprehensive and immersive sports experience for Indian cricket fans.”

    “We are excited to bring The Hundred to our rapidly growing fan base in India,” said FanCode co-founder Prasana Krishnan. “Continuous digital innovation in creating unmatched sports viewing and engagement experience is an important part of our customer promise, and The Hundred, with its unique format, fits in perfectly with what we at FanCode stand for.”

    “We are thrilled to launch a comprehensive partnership with ECB for their new and exciting cricket tournament, ‘The Hundred’, with both Dream11 and FanCode,” said Dream Sports’ chief marketing officer Vikrant Mudaliar. “Through this partnership, we hope to drive fan engagement for The Hundred by reaching over 120 million Dream Sports fans in India. ‘The Hundred’ offers a truly innovative format, and we are confident that cricket fans will love this new sporting experience.”

    The competition will give equal weight to both men’s and women’s sides, with almost all the matches taking place as back-to-back men’s and women’s matches at the same venue on the same day. It will feature five Indian players across women’s teams – Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, and Jemimah Rodrigues. Cricketing greats such as Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Rashid Khan, Quinton de Kock, Faf du Plessis, Sunil Narine, Eoin Morgan, Moeen Ali, and Jonny Bairstow, among others, feature in this action-packed competitive format. 

  • Back on Track: Dream Sports Foundation lends support to sports professionals

    KOLKATA: Dream Sports Foundation (DSF), the philanthropic arm of Dream Sports has successfully supported over 3,500 sports professionals across 29 sports during the pandemic as part of its Back on Track programme launched last year.

    Out of the 3,500 beneficiaries, 3,300 are current and retired athletes, over 100 are coaches, and more than 70 are sports support staff and journalists. The beneficiaries are from 24 states and three union territories in India, it said on Friday.

    The onset of the Covid 19 pandemic has disrupted life at many levels leading to job and income loss across industries and sectors, including sports and the programme has been able to help people in need from the sports industry by providing financial aid, training, and sports equipment support, coaching, proper diet and nutrition, monthly stipends, and hygiene kits.

    To ensure that the aid reached the most affected members of the Indian sports ecosystem, DSF also helped 16 NGOs across the country, including Nav Sahyog Foundation, Dribble Academy, Nagaland Football Foundation, The Right Pitch, The Ball Project, and many more. DSF supported sports journalists through the Playfield magazine initiative who had lost their jobs due to the COVID crisis. 

    Speaking about the programme, Dream Sports & Dream11 COO & co-founder Bhavit Sheth said, “Owing to the lack of opportunities and resources due to the pandemic, many sports professionals and athletes were giving up on their dreams as they were unable to sustain themselves. We wanted to help them land on their feet and take strides towards their personal and sporting goals through ‘Back on Track’. We are glad that we could reach several sports beneficiaries pan-India and provide integral support within the last nine months.”

    One of the beneficiaries of ‘Back on Track’ is Rani Laxmi Bai Sports Academy, Bihar, which gives girls from disadvantaged backgrounds the opportunity to play sports at state, national and international levels. Academy’s founder, Sanjay Pathak said, “We are grateful for such initiatives that have made a significant difference for our 55 senior students, who play football and handball. They have helped in retaining their dreams of playing sports, especially during these difficult times. The girls played with a single pair of shoes for one whole year, but thanks to Dream Sports Foundation’s support, they now have multiple pairs of high-quality shoes and sports kits essential for national-level players. The monetary support is also helping us provide better nutrition to the students.”

  • Dream11 & Puma team up for first athleisure collection

    Dream11 & Puma team up for first athleisure collection

    KOLKATA: Fantasy sports platform Dream11 has joined forces with the global sports brand Puma to launch its first athleisure collection in India. The two sporting powerhouses have co-created an exclusive range under the label – PumaxDream11. The merchandise assortment includes t-shirts, flip-flops and caps and will be available online on FanCode Shop, at exclusive Puma stores and Puma.com.

    With over 100 million users, Dream11 will now be able to connect with sports fans offline while tapping into the athleisure market in India, which is growing at a rate of 20-25 per cent annually. The first collection was launched just in time for IPL 2021. The collaboration also includes an autumn-winter range which will exclusively be available during the upcoming T20 World Cup hosted in India. The designs under the PumaXDream11 collection are branded under the campaign theme ‘Dream It. Own It’.

    Dream11 & Dream Sports co-founder and CEO Harsh Jain said, “We are excited to launch our first athleisure collection along with Puma, which shares our belief in making sports better for all. We are certain that this collaboration will strengthen Dream11’s offline brand affinity and loyalty. We are sure that this sporty collection will resonate with both our 100 million users and Puma brand champions.”

    Puma India and southeast Asia managing director Abhishek Ganguly added, “Dream11 and Puma share a common vision to grow the culture of sports in India. As pioneers of fantasy sports in the country, they understand the pulse of sports enthusiasts and have been powering this ecosystem by giving fans a platform to follow, track and actively engage with the game. We are happy to partner with Dream11 to launch their first athleisure collection.”

  • SoftBank’s Paroma Roy Chowdhury joins Dream Sports

    SoftBank’s Paroma Roy Chowdhury joins Dream Sports

    New Delhi: Soft Bank Group’s former senior director Asia communications and public affairs Paroma Roy Chowdhury is joining Dream Sports as chief communications and advocacy officer.

    Dream Sports is the parent company of Dream11, the recent sponsor of IPL 2020 and the leader in fantasy sports category. 

    Chowdhury stepped down from her role in 2020.

    She has over three decades of experience and has worked as a journalist and communications head across multiple brands such as GE Capital, HP, Bharti Airtel, Google India and SoftBank.

    Founded in 2008, Dream Sports include brands such as FanCode, sports accelerator program DreamX, and sports-focused tour agency DreamSetGo. The company has more than 100m users, capitalising on the passion for cricket in the world's second-largest internet market. 
     

  • When others fire, Dream Sports hires

    When others fire, Dream Sports hires

    MUMBAI: Sports tech company Dream Sports will hire over 250 employees this year at a time when job losses and pay cuts are part of the new normal due to the Covid2019 pandemic. Out of this 180 would be for Dream11. The company’s other brands include FanCode and DreamX.

    The company has already hired 80 sportans since January 2020, and continues to look for talents across various levels.

    Dream Sports chief human resources officer Kevin Freitas told Indiantelevision.com that the company is looking for hiring tech-savvy and sports-loving engineers, designers and product managers for all its brands: Dream11, FanCode, and DreamX. “We will be hiring in departments of technology, design and product teams for roles such as SDEs, data scientists, business analysts, product managers and designers, and other functions include finance, legal, HR, and customer service.”

    “We are looking for applicants who are data-obsessed, who will take ownership, and are dedicated to high performance. We want an employee who can put the user first and believe in transparency,” says Freitas.

    Though the vacancies are technology-related, the company seeks candidates who understand and have an interest in sports, but not as requisite eligibility. Currently, Dream Sports has over 350 employees across Dream11, FanCode, and DreamX.

    Dream11, the primary product of Dream Sports, is a fantasy sports platform based in India that allows users to play fantasy cricket, hockey, football, American football, kabaddi, basketball, volleyball, baseball, handball. FanCode is a multi-sport aggregator platform for every sports fan, focusing on long-tail sports content and contextual commerce which offers a personalised, curated sports experience across live streaming, news, live match scores, in-depth game analysis and fantasy sports statistics & tips.

    The company has recently hired Dev Bajaj as chief corporate development officer, who will lead investments and drive global strategic partnerships in Fantasy Sports, SportsTech, Gaming and other opportunistic sectors

    Dream11 is an official partner of the IPL till 2022. It's also an associate sponsor on Star Sports and co-presenting sponsor on Disney + Hotstar.

  • Dream Sports names Dev Bajaj as chief corporate development officer

    Dream Sports names Dev Bajaj as chief corporate development officer

    MUMBAI: Dream Sports, India’s sports technology company with brands such as Dream11, FanCode and DreamX, announced the appointment of Dev Bajaj as chief corporate development officer.

    In his new role, Bajaj will lead investments and drive global strategic partnerships in fantasy sports, sportstech, gaming and other opportunistic sectors. He will also work closely with leaders of the Dream Sports companies on future fundraising and strategic business planning.

    Dream Sports co-founder and chief executive officer Harsh Jain, says, “We are excited to have Dev onboard to lead our business expansion through investments and partnerships. Dev’s extensive and versatile experience as an investor and entrepreneur over the last decade will help us further build the sports ecosystem in India.”

    “I am sure that Dev will be invaluable in identifying strategic partners and scaling potential sports businesses. While Dream11 continues to grow rapidly, Dream Sports is hiring 250+ talented sport enthusiasts this year and actively expanding its portfolio of sports businesses. In the last year, we launched FanCode, a multi-sport aggregator platform with 15 million users already, and DreamX, a sports accelerator powering several new start-ups,” adds Jain.

    He has over 17 years of experience across entrepreneurship, venture capital, private equity and investment banking. Prior to joining Dream Sports, he was a venture partner with Kalaari Capital evaluating and managing early-stage investments in a variety of sectors including fintech, gaming, sportstech, SAAS, and AgTech.

    As an entrepreneur, Bajaj successfully founded and built MITRA, which is now one of India’s successful AgTech start-ups. In 2018, Mahindra & Mahindra began acquiring MITRA. Before starting MITRA, Dev was at Paine Schwartz, a private equity firm in San Francisco and gained in-depth knowledge in investing in mid-stage buyout transactions.

    Bajaj says, “Dream11’s 80 million user base is a testament to the Indian sports fans’ desire for deeper and meaningful engagement with their favourite sports. This desire will drive growth in the Indian SportsTech sector over the next decade.”

    Bajaj adds, “With $5.5 billion invested in SportsTech in Asia, India leads the way with 40 per cent of all sports-tech startups in Asia, but has received less than 10 per cent of the funding. We believe there are multiple early and growth-stage investment opportunities for us within fantasy sports, gaming and the broader sports-tech ecosystem.”

    “I have a lot of respect for Harsh, Bhavit and our management team. We share a common passion with many entrepreneurs in India who want to help Indian Sports with disruptive technology. In my new role, I aim to ensure that start-ups and mid-stage companies find Dream Sports a valuable investor and partner,” adds Bajaj.

    Dev began his career with investment banking in the US.  Dev has an MBA from INSEAD and B.Sc. from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles.