Rario, a Polygon-based platform that issues cricket-related non-fungible tokens (NFTs), has reportedly seen its founders exit the company two years after its launch.
Rario founders, including Rario CEO Ankit Wadhwa and chief technology officer Sunny Bhanot, are being pushed out as investors in the startup to exert more control over the platform, TechCrunch reported on September 8.
Rario CEO Ankit Wadhwa (left) and CTO Sunny Bhanot (right). Source: TechCrunch
Dream11, a major Indian fantasy sports platform and Rario’s largest backer, is also being squeezed out, according to the report. As part of other restructuring efforts at Rario, a number of positions are also being removed, the report said.
Besides Dream11, Rario has some prominent investors including global investment firm and cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar. In April 2022, the cricket NFT platform raised $120 million in a Series A funding round, claiming that it had the largest share of cricket NFT rights at the time with 900 cricketers.
If confirmed, the latest changes at Rario come as Dream11’s parent company Dream Sports is reportedly making efforts to reduce costs at the company. According to TechCrunch, Dream Sports is currently negotiating many of the licensing deals that Rario had signed to reduce costs.
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At the time of writing, the reported changes cannot be found on the LinkedIn profiles of the executives. Rario and Dream11 did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment.
Rario was founded in 2021 with a mission to create digital cricket collectibles and help fans engage as an online community. In April 2021, the company said it had sold 50,000 NFTs to sports fans in 20 countries.
Some of the cricket leagues signed by Rario include Cricket Australia, the Australian Cricketers’ Association, the Caribbean Premier League, thLanka Premier League and Abu Dhabi T10 League Legends League Cricket.
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