Harsh Jain founded Dream11 with his friend Bhavit Sheth in 2008. The company has over 150 million registered active users n its platform and its valuation is 8 Billion Dollars (Rs 65000 Crores)
AASHISH KUMAR JHA | Apr 26, 2023 |
Harsh Jain, Founder of Dream 11, Rejected 150 times before building a 65000 crore+ Start-Up
Harsh Jain: The Indian Premier League (IPL 2023) has already begun, and fans love spotting their favorite players compete. Some fans also use a popular fantasy sports app called Dream11 to play virtual games by selecting their favorite teams or players. But have you ever inquired who is behind this app? Do you know that the business idea of Dream11 was rejected 150 times before its actualization? In this article, we will learn about Harsh Jain, Dream11’s co-founder, and CEO, and his start-up. He is one of India’s wealthiest young billionaires.
All Indians must have played fantasy sports on the famous platform Dream 11. All sports lovers must have heard about the fantasy sports platform Dream 11. Success is often hard to come by, but for Harsh Jain, co-founder of Dream 11, the path to success was filled with countless rejections, failures, and setbacks. Despite facing numerous obstacles, Harsh’s unwavering determination and passion for his vision helped him create one of India’s most successful gaming platforms, Dream 11.
Harsh Jain was born into a business family in Mumbai. His father is Anand Jain, Chairman of Jai Corp Limited and Urban Infrastructure Venture Capital Limited. Harsh Jain himself is an avid sports, gaming, and technology enthusiast. He is a die-hard Manchester United supporter. Harsh attended Sevenoaks High School in England from 2001 to 2003. After finishing school, he pursued a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. During this time, he worked as a summer intern at Microsoft for three months. He obtained his engineering graduate degree in 2007. He also has a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Columbia University’s Business School. Harsh Jain married Rachana Shah, a dentist, in 2013.
Harsh Jain became a fan of fantasy sports in 2001 while studying abroad in England. While working as an intern, he realized that his true calling was entrepreneurship. So he returned to India to start his entrepreneurial journey. When the IPL started for the first time in 2008, Harsh and his college mate Bhavit got the idea to start Dream 11. In 2008, he founded Dream 11 with his friend Bhavit Sheth, under Sporta Technologies Pvt Ltd. Both experienced difficulties in the early days of Dream11 but finally achieved success.
The journey to give the start-up its real shape was not easy. According to Harsh Jain, around 150 venture capitalists turned down their business idea for two years after 2012. The start-up now provides many fantasy sports like cricket, football, kabaddi, basketball, hockey, and others. Once Dream 11 was launched, the platform faced several legal hurdles, including allegations of it being a gambling platform. The company spent a significant amount of time and resources in fighting legal battles to establish that their platform was a game of skill rather than a game of chance. It was only after a long legal battle that the Indian Supreme Court declared Dream 11 as a legitimate platform, paving the way for the company’s success. Some major milestones in the journey of Dream 11 is listed below:
Today, Dream 11 is valued at over 65,000 crores (8 billion dollars) and has more than 150 million active users. The platform has expanded beyond cricket and now offers fantasy games for various sports, including football, basketball, and kabaddi. The company employs more than 800 staff (as of September 2022). The start-up generated a revenue of Rs 3,841 crores in FY22. Harsh Jain has also been recognized as one of the youngest self-made billionaires in India.
Harsh Jain’s journey from rejection to riches is a truly inspiring one. He has shown that success is not achieved overnight, but through perseverance, hard work, and unwavering determination. His story is a reminder that every failure is a stepping stone towards success and that nothing is impossible if you believe in yourself and your vision.
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