In a cricket-obsessed country, Harsh Jain turned his passion into a giant—last valued at ₹68,428 crore ($8 billion).

What’s lesser known is that Harsh’s journey was riddled with more than 100 rejections before Dream11 finally took off in 2012. Despite coming from a business family, he chose a path less trodden—combining his love for sports with his engineering background to build something scalable and game-changing.

A fantasy football enthusiast, Harsh’s business instincts aligned perfectly with the rise of the IPL and fantasy cricket. His school friend Bhavit Sheth joined him early on. After years of setbacks and constant learning, the duo finally found success.

By 2015, Dream11 had reached 300,000 users and raised its Series A funding. Within five years, the user base had grown to 110 million—and today, it stands at 220 million.

From being a 22-year-old newcomer unfamiliar with startup jargon, Harsh now leads Dream Sports, the parent company of Dream11, which posted revenue of ₹6,581 crore in FY23.

His ‘fantasy’ empire is expanding into other sports like football and kabaddi. Yet, fantasy cricket still dominates, contributing nearly 90% of the company’s business.