Harsh Jain is an Indian entrepreneur who is the Co-Founder of the Indian fantasy virtual game portal Dream 11 and Dream Sports Group. Presently serving as the CEO of Dream 11, he co-founded the startup in 2008 with his friend Bhavit Sheth.
Born in Mumbai, India, he is the son of Anand Jain, the business magnet of India and Sushma Jain. After completing his schooling in Maharashtra, Harsh moved to the United States to pursue his Bachelor degree in Electrical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. Afterwards, he completed his MBA degree from Columbia Business School in New York. Harsh is married to Rachana Shah Jain with whom he has one son.
Dream 11 Founder Harsh Jain serves as the President of the Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports from 2017.
Harsh Jain is the son of Anand Kumar Jain (businessman) and Sushma Jain (painter). His father is often considered the third son of Dhirubhai Ambani. India Today In 2007, Forbes India ranked Anand Jain on no. 19 in India’s 40 Richest list. Forbes He has a younger sister named Neha Jain. Neha is married to Anurag Bagaria who owns his own pharmaceutical company Kem well Pharma (a contract manufacturer for multinational drug companies).
While Harsh was pursuing his bachelor’s degree in 2006, he joined Microsoft as a summer intern for three months. At Microsoft, he worked on the feasibility and commercial benefits for the company to enter the Push-To-Talk (PTT) marketplace. In 2007, he joined Jai Corp. Limited, Mumbai, as a Marketing Manager. Combining his love for sports, gaming, and technology, Harsh, along with his business partner Bhavit Sheth, founded Dream11, an Indian fantasy sports platform, in 2008.
In July 2010, Harsh co-founded Red Digital, a social media agency in Mumbai. Within two years of its incorporation, the company managed to extend its clientele to some Indian and international conglomerates like Dell, Adidas, PVR, Berger Paints, EduComp, and Reliance Foundation. The firm was acquired by Gozoop, a marketing agency in Mumbai, in 2013. In 2017, Harsh became the President of the Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports.
Besides Dream11, Dream Sports has also launched the following brands:
In 2017, a case was registered against Harsh’s company Dream11 in the Rajasthan High Court. The petitioner had termed Dream11 as a play of sheer chance involving betting on the cricket team. The court, in its ruling, stated that that winning or losing in a Dream 11 game depended on the skill and knowledge of the participant. The court also held that “the element of skill” had a predominant influence on the outcome of the Dream11 game. However, the law does not allow fantasy sports in a few Indian states like Assam, Odisha, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh. A challenge to this judgment was filed with the Supreme Court of India, which dismissed the appeal and allowed the company to run its operations throughout the country.
Since he was young, Harsh was deeply passionate about sports. He is an ardent fan of the Indian cricket team and the Manchester United football club. In 2008, the year the Indian Premier League (IPL) began, he and his college friend Bhavit had the idea to launch Dream 11. The journey began at that point of time with several hardships but there was no looking back for the two young men since then. Harsh oversees product, design, tech and marketing of the company while Bhavit manages operations.
In the early phases of Dream 11, the founders solicited around 150 venture investors for funding, but they were rejected. Harsh Jain Dream 11 Founder said in an interview that these early failures provided them with a chance to explore and understand more about this industry and eventually by persevering; they built a Rs 65,000 crore company that stands strong today. In 2019, the BCCI formally designated Dream 11 as the IPL’s official partner.
Dream Sports’ primary brand is Dream 11, which also includes FanCode, Dream X and DreamSetGo. Dream 11 founders Harsh Jain and Bhavit Sheth launched these brands in 2008. As the first gaming company from India to join the unicorn club, Dream 11 is a forerunner in the fantasy game industry. It was founded 15 years ago and has a total investment of $1.62 billion, with revenue of $359.03 million in FY21.
It was also included among the top 10 innovative Indian companies for 2019 by Fast Company. With more than 13 crore users playing fantasy cricket, football, kabaddi, basketball, hockey, volleyball etc in India and overseas in it, Dream11 is currently India’s largest fantasy sports platform. The platform has expanded throughout time to incorporate variety of games and services.
Download and get Bkakti Ka Mahasangam !
.jpg)
