Ashneer Grover’s Third Unicorn in talks to divest CrickPe
The development comes after CrickPe was halted at the end of 2024 after the company struggled with the rising GST imposed on the sector.
Third Unicorn-housed CrickPe brand is currently in talks to be divested from the company, according to Co-founder Ashneer Grover, as it struggled amidst misplaced connotations with gambling and high GST levied on the sector.
“The gaming industry will get consolidated over the next few months—to a couple of dominant players—as is the case with all tech domains in India. We are in talks to divest the CrickPe brand and tech, which has been built in-house,” Grover said in a statement.
The fantasy cricket brand, which was launched before the 2023 Indian Premiere League (IPL), has been halted since the end of last year. Grover added, “We had great fun with the space but feel it’s best for incumbents like Dream11 and others, as the economics of the business no longer has scope for incentivising the cricketers out of the game pot - which was our initial idea.”
CrickPe, as opposed to its peers like Dream11 and MPL, had an option that allowed real-life cricketers to amass a portion of the cash rewards.
Meanwhile, Third Unicorn will double down on its other brand, ZeroPe, which offers healthcare loans.
“ZeroPe is doing great business and has found product market fit. We have more than 1 lakh organic downloads and 1,000 hospital/healthcare providers with a rating of 4.6 on iOS and Android,” Grover said.
Third Unicorn, which was co-founded by BharatPe’s former CEO, his wife Madhuri Jain Grover, and Aseem Gharvi, reportedly raised about $4 million in a seed round in 2023, according to a report by Mint.
The online gaming sector has been struggling with a GST of 28% levied on these platforms, which has affected profit margins and user growth in the sector alike.
Edited by Suman Singh
