Mumbai: On Friday, sports news content and gaming site Sportskeeda announced an interesting turn of events by bringing onboard the company's current COO, Ajay Pratap Singh, as its new CEO. Singh will replace the incumbent founder & CEO Porush Jain, who has decided to exit the company.
Back in 2019, Nazrana bought a 67 per cent stake in Sportskeeda for Rs 44 crore. Now it has paid Rs 20 crore to buy an additional 6.05 per cent stake in the company. Nazara picked up the stake from Jain through a secondary sale in order to consolidate its shareholding in profitable subsidiaries.
On sharing about his exit from Sportskeeda on Linkedin, Jain relished the thought that he is financially free to do what he wants.
His post reads, "My dreamy journey at Sportskeeda ends today as I successfully exit the company. From sweeping the office floor myself to sweeping the market share! From a mere sports blog to a company doing $15 million ARR."
"No doubt Sportskeeda will continue its growth journey. Super proud of the leadership team that I have built. Currently relishing the thought that I can do anything in this world now! Maybe a new start-up, an NGO, an angel investor and mentor, a traveller, or maybe a gardener," it added.
Jain further shared a timeline of his journey, he noted that it took five years to get the model right.
"2009: Starting Up! from the College Dormitory; 2012: Sportskeeda gets $1MM in seed funding; 2014: SK gets the model right after burning almost 85% of the fund. The company turns profitable; 2017: 10x growth in 3 years; 2019: Nazara Tech acquires majority stake. VC gets 15x+ exit. Mentor gets 50x; 2021: SK grows 4x (users) in two years. Revenue 5x, Profit 30x!"
"If you are passionate about Sports! You should join us. Life is great when your passion makes money for you!", he stated.
Commenting on this event, Nazara’s founder Nitish Mittersain said, "Sportskeeda continues to grow very rapidly across its core markets of the US and India, having doubled its revenue every year for the last three years. I am sure it will continue to make even greater strides under Singh’s able leadership. The market for sports content is deep and offers huge growth opportunities in the coming years."
Speaking about Jain's exit and on joining his new role, Singh said, "It was a great learning experience working alongside Jain. Being the brand's founder, he was instrumental in taking Sportskeeda to where it is today. With his continued guidance as a mentor to me and the team, we hope to take Sportskeeda to even greater heights."
