Eksab, an Egyptian fantasy football website, has acquired $3 million in early capital to help it expand throughout the Middle East and Africa.
Eksab, which means “earn” or “win” in Arabic, was launched in 20178 with the goal of making football more interesting for fans through gaming and online community development. Players may enter free or premium contests, make predictions, and select line-ups, with the top scorers ascending the leaderboard and winning cash and prizes.
In Egypt, Eksab presently has over 700,000 registered users who make over a million “picks” each month. The firm has expanded its paying user base by an average of 60% month over a month since launching its premium tournaments in 2021, and it has already worked with more than ten top-tier Egyptian football players and content providers.
After receiving a $3 million seed round headed by 4DX Ventures with participation from Darwazah Capital, Golden Palm Investments, P1 Ventures, and a number of strategic angel investors from the local and global sports and entertainment ecosystems, the firm now wants to expand further. In 2020, 4DX Ventures also invested in Eksab, which has already raised a total of $3.7 million.
Eksab will utilise the funds to expand its user base across the MENA area and Africa, engage in product development, hire engineering and product expertise, and form collaborations with a number of major international football teams. It is currently Egypt’s first and only licenced fantasy football platform, with intentions to expand to three more countries by the middle of 2022.
Eksab is actively building features to link with prominent blockchain-based platforms as it invests more in its technology, allowing football fans to benefit from Web 3.0’s improved speed and transparency.
“This is a phenomenally high growth period in our business as we look to take our platform to new audiences. We are also really excited to have some leading global investors and partners join this round. The fact that our previous investors are all doubling down on Eksab highlights the great effort the team has put in over the last 12 months and the massive opportunity in the sector,” said Aly Mahmoud, Eksab’s founder and CEO.
“With the growth of Web3 and play-to-earn gaming, we see Eksab as being at the forefront of the digital transformation of football, content, community and gaming across Africa and the Middle East.”
4DX Ventures managing partner Dan Marlo said his firm has been constantly pleased by Eksab’s progress over the last 12 months.
“The football gaming market is enormous globally, but especially in MENA. Eksab has built a product and a community that has been rapidly growing in the MENA region but can easily scale across the continent – which fits 4DX’s investment ethos perfectly,” he said.
