India's first sports investment platform launched

The unique strength of this highly engaging platform is its performance ranking system based on an algorithm that analyzes a variety of batting, bowling and fielding statistics to assign an index rating to each player.

A blockchain-based fantasy cricket platform named Sportiqo has launched in India with a unique choice for users to invest or trade in players, just like stocks.

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The unique strength of this highly engaging platform is its performance ranking system based on an algorithm that analyzes a variety of batting, bowling and fielding statistics to assign an index rating to each player.

The growing popularity of investing in stock markets cannot be denied, starting at an early stage for many young professionals. On Sportiqo, when a fan's selected players perform, he/she is rewarded cash ‘dividends’ based on their portfolio. This unique gaming platform enables one to pick and choose top players, basis their knowledge and analysis of the sport.

The sports industry gets nearly $2.5 trillion every year globally, while there are 3.5 billion passionate sports fans.

Anindya Kar, CPO and Co-Founder of Sportiqo said, “India and cricket is a market we really want to explore. This kind of personal interest and audience engagement is unique to cricket here and transforming that fandom into a stock markets format is a unique proposition. When we launched Sportiqo, we were looking for an interactive & entertaining way to engage people while also making it informative so that they get a basic idea of the world of investing and trading. The platform is powered by cutting-edge blockchain technology and deep analytics giving each player a unique value basis several parameters. We look forward to the reaction of cricket fans across India and the world to Sportiqo.”

The platform has been developed to be intuitive and user-friendly. The price is determined by expectations of the players’ future performance in the market. The fluctuation in players’ prices depends on the changes in his/her dynamic performance. The player stocks known as ‘counters’ on Sportiqo and the ‘dividend’ rewards are denominated in SPQ, Sportiqo’s in-app currency.

“Educating the youth about investing and trading using cricket is a great idea. India really needs creative options to improve the financial literacy of the masses and Sportiqo is addressing that gap.”, said stock market expert, Gautam Duggad.

Amrit Mathur, sports industry veteran, further added, “Cricket fans are passionate and many of them have a deep knowledge of the sport and players. I think bringing together the sport and its fans via this format of fantasy gaming is exciting. It is always fun to get your skin in the game and developing a simulated stock exchange in the cricket universe is a potent idea.”

Based on a beta launch, Sportiqo already has nearly 32,000 active users and it is forecasting to raise the figure to over 5 million active users by 2027.

Sportiqo has raised $1.25 million (Rs. 10 Cr) in the pre-seed round from angel investors with a focus on user acquisition in its first phase post launch. The platform is already live for the ILT20 League and additionally, in the coming time, Sportiqo will add a portfolio of other sports and leagues as well such as the English Premier League and the Indian Premier League among others.