From 150 rejections to Rs 67,000 crore firm, Team India sponsorship: Success Story of Harsh Jain

Harsh Jain is a die-hard cricket fan and also a never-say-die entrepreneur. He combined both to build a Rs 67,000 crore giant that will now be branding the Indian cricket team. The popular platform that Jain co-founded has signed a multi-crore deal with the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) to become the lead sponsor of Men in Blue. Jain and friend Bavith Sheth faced 150 rejections when attempting to kickstart their business.

The platform which attracts lakhs of cricket and sports fans was founded by Harsh Jain and Bhavit Sheth back in 2008. The start of the IPL fueled the idea of Dream11. The company today commands a massive valuation of USD 8 billion and over 150 million active users.

Jain is the CEO of the company, which he also terms as Culture Enforcement Officer. The young turk is the son of top business executive Anand Jain of Jai Corp Limited, who is considered close to India’s richest man Mukesh Ambani. Despite this, Jain sought the venture capitalist way to get funds for his business idea. He faced rejection from around 150 VCs in two years, Jain had once revealed. Despite early struggles, Jain and Sheth’s venture tasted success as their company became a unicorn. 

Jain did his graduation in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania in the US. He has worked for software giant Microsoft as an intern for three months. He also has an MBA from Columbia Business School, Columbia University. The 36-year-old is married and reportedly lives in a Rs 72 crore luxury apartment in a posh South Mumbai locality.