Eksab gets $3M to scale its fantasy football platform across MENA and Africa

techcrunch.com:

Football or soccer, the latter commonly used in the US, is the most popular and watched sport globally with over five billion football fans according to its apex governing body, FIFA.

While the World Cup, its pinnacle event of football and arguably the world’s most popular sporting event, shows the popularity of the sport in full colors, it’s the yearly leagues in different countries across Europe, South America, Asia and Africa that puts diehard nature of football fans on display. 

FIFA says Latin America, the Middle East and Africa represent the largest fan bases across the world. With fans of various sports including football, becoming increasingly interested in virtual versions of their favorite sports, startups from these regions are satisfying their cravings by providing fantasy sports platforms.

Today’s news comes out from the Middle East and Africa where Eksab, an Egyptian platform that says it’s making football more exciting and interactive for every fan in both regions through gaming and online community building, has raised $ 3million in seed funding.

The round led by4DX Ventures saw participation from Darwazah Capital, Golden Palm Investments, P1 Ventures and some angel investors from sports and entertainment profession, the company said. 

Eksab stated that it intends to use this investment to scale its user base across MENA and Africa. Some of the funds will also go into product development, hiring talent in engineering and product teams and executing partnerships with football clubs. 

Founder and CEO Aly Mahmoud started Eksab in 2018. “Eksab’s mission is to make football more exciting for every football fan in the Middle East and Africa,” he said to TechCrunch in an interview.

Eksab launched with a prediction game