Sameer Nigam and Rahul Chari, the co-founders of the Indian digital payments business PhonePe, invested an undisclosed sum in the RuPay Prime Volleyball League (PVL) and bought the Mumbai Meteors, the league’s eighth club.
The PVL’s franchise owners are also the league’s stakeholders. Additionally, Abhijit Bhattacharya, a former captain of the Indian national volleyball team, has joined the franchise as the General Manager.
Joy Bhattacharya, CEO of the RuPay Prime Volleyball League said, “We are delighted to have Sameer and Rahul on board with us as franchise owners as the league continues to grow bigger and better. It is exciting to see hugely respected corporate leaders not only showcasing their support to the sport but also backing the business model that we have worked so hard to build.”
Bhattacharya continued by expressing his confidence that the knowledge of the league’s co-founders will aid in its future expansion to a larger audience.
This league’s second season is set to start in the early months of 2023. For the 2019 edition, RPVL has collaborated with Volleyball World, the commercial arm of the international volleyball governing body Fédération Internationale de Volley Ball, to serve as the international streaming partner.
Season two is anticipated to feature 31 games, compared to season one’s 24 games, which attracted 133 million people altogether on television.
The franchise league is co-promoted and advertised by sports marketing firm Baseline Ventures and is powered by the Indian online rummy platform A23.
Around 400 million people are registered users of PhonePe, which was founded in December 2015. Additionally, according to the company, it has effectively digitalized over 30 million offline retailers spanning Tier 2, 3, 4, and beyond, covering 99% of India’s pin codes.
