Sports engagement startup Rooter raises Rs 1 Cr from Anthill Ventures

Sports engagement platform Rooter has raised Rs 1 crore from Anthill Ventures along with its network of investors. The Delhi based sports technology startup is a part of the Anthill Studio Accelerator Programme.

Anthill Studio helps Rooter to connect with corporate giants who will further help them to venture into international markets.

The Piyush, Akshat Goel, and Dipesh Agarwal steered company will use the fresh capital to focus on its growth in India and expand its footprint to Europe. Besides, it also aims to expand its client base to B2B customers and focus on growing its social feed, said the company's press statement.

Launched in 2016, Rooter offers live fantasy game, live match prediction, and peer-to-peer engagement via integration of technology and social gaming.

The startup has connected over 2.4 million fans across sports like cricket, hockey, tennis, football, basketball, badminton, and kabaddi. For the next set of growth, it aims to tap tier II, tier III market through its vernacular mobile app, regional score-cards, and personalised social feed.

The fresh capital infusion comes within five months of raising Rs 4.5 crore pre-Series A round. It also counts Intex Technologies and Bollywood actor Boman Irani as its early backers. Further, it is eyeing Series A funding before the ICC cricket world cup 2019.

In the latest completed fiscal FY18, Rooters, for the first time reported operating revenue of Rs 13.17 lakhs. To earn this revenue its expenses jumped 3.6X to Rs 3.12 crore and the losses took a 2.3X hike to Rs 2 crore from Rs 86.62 lakhs in FY17.