Online gaming co MPL burns cash even as expansion stays priority

Galactus Funware Technology, the Indian parent operator of digital gaming startup MPL (Mobile Premier League), continues to burn cash in the hope of establishing a profitable business in the emerging online gaming industry soon.

The Go-Jek-backed company posted an operational revenue of Rs 2.88 crore while its total expenditure widened to Rs 89.47 crore in the financial year ended March 2019.

MPL runs a gaming platform where users compete in live tournaments for skill-based mobile games to win money. The startup has been burning most of its cash in fine tuning its gaming offerings and expanding user growth in India.

In November 2018, it raised $5 million in a Series A round of funding led by marquee venture capital firm Sequoia Capital.

The past year’s capital raises started with a $35.5 million Series A stage continuation led by Sequoia India, Times Internet and GoVentures, the venture capital arm of Indonesian ride-hailing platform Go-Jek. 

A week post the Series A cheque, it forayed into the Southeast Asia market, with the launch of its operations in Indonesia. The company had then attributed the expansion to the increasing internet penetration and rising disposable income, which has given rise to the rapid development of mobile games.

In 2019, MPL acqui-hired Pune-based end-to-end product engineering consulting firm Crevise Technologies in a cash-and-stock deal.