Fando wants to grow to 100 million users this year
and signs a partnership
with Google Cloud

Manit Parikh is the CEO and founder of Fando. This startup is one of the fastest-growing sports companies in Southeast Asia and a non-Dutch portfolio company of the Dutch Sport Tech Fund. In this interview, Parikh explains how the app grew to four million users and how the startup aims to reach more than 100 million users this year. A strategic partnership with Google Cloud and collaborations with various telecom companies are helping Fando achieve this.

In a previous interview with Dutch Sport Tech Fund, Parikh explained how Fando works and how the app enables sports fans to follow their favorite sports. “Fans can consume content on Fando, follow fantasy sports, share user-generated content, earn loyalty points, and use those loyalty points to purchase products on the Fando platform.”

Parikh hopes to turn Fando into a unicorn (a tech company valued at more than a billion dollars). The potential of Fando is unprecedented, as the company targets markets such as Southeast Asia (over 600 million inhabitants), South Asia (the same), the Middle East (200 million inhabitants), Africa (800 million), and Brazil (300 million). It has an edge over the competition, as it is a so-called “first mover” in these regions. Other, more mature markets also offer many opportunities. In addition, Fando cleverly leverages platforms like Discord, Subreddit, and others, allowing it to benefit from a network effect. 

Google Cloud has become a strategic partner of Fando. “We are very pleased with this collaboration. Google Cloud offers a CO2-neutral cloud solution, which contributes to Fando’s ESG objectives. This partnership also enables us to make use of new AI tools that Google is launching, for example for the development of our back-end or front-end. This collaboration also gives us access to various departments within Google, allowing us to move more quickly. That provides important advantages for our company. We also exchange knowledge in the field of Web3, the new (or decentralized) version of the internet.”

Other exciting news: Sherie Ng, CEO of Google Cloud Malaysia, has joined the board of Fando. She will serve as AI advisor for Fando. Other advisors to Fando include Patricia Auer, COO of Nest, and Mario Nawfal, CEO of International Blockchain Consulting.

The collaboration with Google Cloud is not the only achievement Fando has made recently. In the coming weeks, the company will sign contracts with two major telecom companies: Indosat Hutchinson with 100 million users in Indonesia and CelcomDigi with 30 million users in Malaysia. Through these partnerships, Fando will be integrated into the telecom companies’ apps. “This will allow users of the Indosat Hutchinson and CelcomDigi apps to watch sports content, make payments, take out loans, and even trade in fan tokens. These are super-apps, applications that basically let you do everything.”

The collaboration between the telecom companies and Fando creates a win-win situation, Parikh explains. “With this partnership, the telecom companies have the opportunity to activate inactive users. About thirty percent of telecom customers do not use the company’s app, while active users are more profitable. If they use the app more often and, for example, watch more video content, more data will be used. Telecom companies facilitate that data, which means they generate more revenue per customer. That’s why telecom companies are eager to work with us. It also benefits us, as it allows us to easily enter a new market and find new users. This creates synergy benefits.”

Fando is planning an initial public offering (IPO) on various crypto exchanges at the end of this year. “This will take place on both centralized and decentralized exchanges and is necessary to facilitate the liquidity of the tokens,” says Parikh. “Sports fans earn tokens on the platform, for example when they share or view content. These tokens will soon be tradable both within and outside the platform, allowing them to be exchanged for money. The tokens can already be traded for physical objects, such as electronics and collectibles. We are even considering real estate via Fando tokens. This means you could buy a house or a hundredth of a house with Fando tokens. In this way, it becomes easier for more people to invest in real estate.”

Fando has experienced significant growth and hopes to accelerate that growth in the near future. “The app now has 4 million users. We have an annual revenue of 22 to 23 million dollars and a positive EBITDA of 20 to 30%. In the coming months, Fando will focus on integration with super-apps in Malaysia and Indonesia, as well as more telecom companies in the near future. We expect to grow to 50 to 60 million users in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, South America, South Asia, and Africa. By the end of the year, we hope to grow to more than 100 million users. At the moment, we are opening offices in Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Brazil, Australia, Indonesia, and Malaysia, and we are expanding our management team in strategic positions. Our revenue is expected to double this year. We are in talks with ten to twelve telecom companies, of which we hope to connect four or five. The future looks very promising.”

Dutch Sport Tech Fund acquired a stake in Fando in October 2021. Want to know more about investing in our portfolio? Contact us at info@dutchsporttechfund.nl