Sachin Tendulkar invests in cricket-focussed NFT platform Rario
- ByStartupStory | October 21, 2022
Sachin Tendulkar has made a strategic investment in Dream11 parent firm Rario’s cricket non-fungible token (NFT) platform, the business announced on October 20.
As part of the agreement, Tendulkar will serve as the startup’s brand ambassador and will exclusively offer his own digital collectibles on the platform.
“Fans are an integral part of any sport. While the on-field action happens for a few hours, fans carry the memories forward and immortalize those moments forever. It is exciting to see NFT technology bringing fans closer to sports, giving them an opportunity to treasure their favorite moments,” Tendulkar said.
Many regional and international cricketers, including Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Rishabh Pant, Smriti Mandhana, Aaron Finch, Faf Du Plessis, Quinton de Kock, Shakib Al Hasan, Arshdeep Singh, and Axar Patel, have previously engaged in exclusive collaboration with the company. Cricket Australia, New Zealand Cricket, Big Bash League, Women’s Big Bash League, Super Smash, Hero Caribbean Premier League, Lanka Premier League, Abu Dhabi T10 League, and Legends League Cricket are among the competitions with which the company also claims to have unique ties.
Rario, founded in 2021 by Ankit Wadhwa and Sunny Bhanot, allows cricket fans to interact as a community by allowing them to own digital collectibles such as officially licensed cricketing moments and player cards on the blockchain, represented as an NFT, similar to traditional trading cards or memorabilia.
“It is a testament to our vision of making fandom more accessible,” said Ankit Wadhwa, Rario Co-Founder, and CEO. “It is only fitting that the man who once carried a billion hopes is now blessing us in our journey to redefine fandom for a billion fans. With the God of Cricket backing us, the sky’s the limit!” Wadhwa added.
It has over 900 international cricketers on its list, as well as over 30 exclusive brand ambassadors. Rario claims to have sold over 150,000 NFTs to sports enthusiasts in over 75 countries.
Rario received $120 million in April, led by Dream Capital, Dream Sports’ corporate venture and M&A arm, with investment from Alpha Wave Global. It also has Polygon Studios as a partner and investors such as Animoca Brands, Presight Capital, and Kingsway Capital.
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