Harsh Jain is an Indian Entrepreneur, the co-founder, and CEO of the Indian fantasy online gaming platform Dream11 & Dream Sports Groups that allows users to play fantasy cricket, hockey, football, kabaddi, and basketball. Harsh developed Dream11 in India in 2008 which has 80 million-plus users as of 2021. In April 2019, Dream11 became the first Indian gaming company to become a $1B valuation company. Dream11 is backed by Kalaari Capital, Multiples Equity, Steadview Capital Management. Indian cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Saurav Ganguly, and Rohit Sharma are the brand ambassador of Dream11.
Personal Life
Harsh Jain hails from Mumbai, India. His father’s name is Anand Jain, the business magnet of India who previously worked with Anil Ambani, the brother of Mukesh Ambani and his mother’s name is Sushma Jain. Harsh has a sister named Neha Jain
In his early life, Jain was very much interested in gaming and playing. He is a great fan of the Indian cricket team since childhood and the Manchester United Football Club. To conquer his love for sports, gaming, and technology, Harsh started Dream11 back in 2008 with Bhavit Sheth and is now focused to make a better platform for every sports fan across the country and all over the world.
Education
He started his primary education at Greenlawn’s High School in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Then completed high school at Sevenoaks High School. Harsh Jain completed his Bachelor of Engineering(Electrical) at the University of Pennsylvania where he studied Mathematics and Economics during session 2003-2007. Harsh got his MBA degree from Columbia Business School (New York) in 2012-2014.
Career
Initially, Harsh Jain started his career journey as Summer Intern at Microsoft from Jun 2006 – to Aug 2006. He worked on the feasibility and commercial benefits for Microsoft to enter the Push-To-Talk (PTT) marketplace.
Later he worked at Jai Corp Limited as a marketing manager from 2007 to 2008 for 13 months. His father Anand Jain was the chairman of the Jai Corp Limited.
Harsh Jain is the Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder of Dream11. He with Bhavit Sheth founded the startup in 2008 and still working there. Dream11 is the first gaming company to enter into the unicorn.
Harsh Jain earned fame for his startup Dream11 which is now India’s biggest fantasy sports platform with 8 Crore+ users playing Fantasy Cricket, Football, Kabaddi, Basketball, Hockey, Volleyball, Handball & Baseball in India and abroad.
They have partnerships with national and international sports leagues & bodies and also with reputed Indian and international cricketers. [5]
Dream Sports’ investors include Kalaari Capital, Think Investments, Multiples Equity, Tencent, and Steadview Capital.[6]
Jain is the President of the Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports working since 2017.
Harsh Jain also founded Red Digital as a specialized Social Media agency, focusing on social media management, digital marketing, app development, and online reputation management. In a short span of 2 years, Red Digital signed up marquee brands in India and internationally, such as Dell, PepsiCo, Mumbai Indians, BMW, Parker Pens, Adidas, PVR, Godrej, Berger Paints, Reliance Foundation, Educomp, Citibank, ICC, and The Discovery Channel. Expanded nationally with offices in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, and Kolkata, before leading Red Digital’s acquisition in 2013 by Gozoop.
He is also working in the Navi Mumbai Special Economic Zone Division as a liaison for investors.
