Good morning, it's Thursday and we're back with the update today. We're only one month in to 2021 but it feels like a lot has happened already, and we've got two fairly large rounds to talk about today- MPL and Zetwerk.

1. http://tcrn.ch/3cGmEdY: Gaming platform Mobile Premier League is valued at $945M

➡️ Popular gaming platform Mobile Premier League, which is also the kit sponsor of the Indian cricket team through its sister company, has raised $95M from Composite Capital and Moore Strategic Ventures and values the company just shy of $1B. This is also a noticeable increase from its valuation of $465M from last September.

➡️ The company, which is also backed by Times Internet & Sequoia Capital, is a gaming platform that hosts tournaments on it- it also acts like a publishing platform for game developers as the company does not create its own titles. The app is fairly popular in India with over 60M users and is gaining popularity in Indonesia as well.

➡️ The company also offers fantasy sports on the platform- which has taken the country by storm in the last couple of years. And because of the real-money aspect of its fantasy side, the app isn't available on the Google Play Store (which makes their growth even more impressive)- users have to sideload the app.

➡️ The company was started less than 2.5 years ago, and seeing this rise has been tremendous (especially even after the pandemic affecting real world sports significantly for a while). I think it's hard not being bullish on all things gaming and eSports in India so I'm excited to see what MPL and the other players in the space do next.

2. http://bit.ly/2Mooa9R: Zetwek raises $120M at a $600M valuation

➡️ In more mega-round news, Zetwerk (a B2B manufacturing platform) has raised $120M in a Series D round led by Greenoaks Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners. Existing investors Sequoia and Kae Capital also participated in the round that values the company at $600M.

➡️ The company said it will largely use the capital to expand across geographies and categories, but will also look at “smaller M&A opportunities to grow inorganically and plug in business gaps on the technology and supply side,”.

➡️ The company was also founded in 2018 and has seen impressive growth (3x!) despite the coronavirus pandemic. The company also closed the financial year 2020 with a revenue run rate of Rs. 320 Cr.

➡️ With India aiming to be a $5T economy, the manufacturing sector needs to be the driving force according to the team at Zetwerk. And they feel they can help both public and private companies help achieve that goal in the nation.

Feedback & ❤️ always appreciated BONUS (Tweet of the day):

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ @PranavDixit

🚨 Twitter's in a spot! If it reblocks accounts in India, it risks enabling a crackdown on dissent. If it doesn't, it faces a legal and political showdown in a major market. I scanned the govt's confidential notice to the company and broke it down here buzzfeednews.com/article/pranav…Twitter Unblocked Accounts That Criticized India’s Government. Now, Its Employees Are Being Threatened With Jail Time Unless It Blocks Them…The social media company is refusing an order to take down accounts the government wants gone.buzzfeednews.com

February 3rd 2021

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