The Indian e-commerce company, Meesho announced its association with four Indian Premier League (IPL) teams for the upcoming season. Meesho will be an online shopping partner of the five-time IPL winners Mumbai Indians (MI), Rajasthan Royals (RR), Gujarat Titans (GT) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
In this agreement, Meesho will be the lead trouser branding partner of the four IPL franchises. This collaboration also marks Meesho’s entry as an on-air broadcast partner on the Star Sports network for the coverage of the 15th season of the cash-rich Indian tournament.
Meesho, which was founded by Vidit Aatrey and Sanjeev Barnwal in 2015 is headquartered in Bengaluru. Teaming up with IPL teams will largely help the company in brand exposure throughout the tournament. Last year in September, Meesho raised $570 million in a new round of funding helmed by the US asset manager Fidelity and Eduardo Saverin’s B Capital. Following the funding, the company’s valuation doubled to $4.9 billion in less than six months.
“The T20 league, one of the most successful cricketing events, was conceived and kick started out of India. As a homegrown internet commerce company, Meesho’s collaborative step with the four franchises comes as a natural choice. Forging ecosystem partnerships will help create the right visibility and traction for Meesho as part of the company’s growth strategy. The increasing popularity of one of the world’s most followed T20 leagues over the last few years will add a fillip to Meesho’s objective of targeting a diverse portfolio of customers,” the company said.
Speaking on the association, Lucky Saini, VP & Head of Brand-Meesho, said, “We are thrilled to associate with and be seen in one of the biggest cricketing events in the country. The scale, reach, and popularity of the T20 league will be instrumental in expanding our reach and tapping into a new customer base. Sports is a great way to connect with our audience and make deeper market penetrations. With this collaboration, we aim to leverage the combined synergies in scaling our business while unlocking new opportunities for driving greater brand awareness.”
Mumbai Indians spokesperson commented on the collaboration, “We welcome Meesho to our brand partnership programme. Our collaboration reflects one of our key attributes of providing budding talent the opportunity to showcase their true potential through a massive and new age platform. We look forward to a mutually successful partnership with them.”
Commenting on the collaboration, Jake Lush McCrum, Chief Executive Officer, Rajasthan Royals, said, “Meesho has been a company I’ve followed and admired over the last few years. I’m delighted we’ll be supporting their growth as a business, especially when their focus is so aligned to that of our foundation, “Enabling empowered women”, and supports our purpose of Transforming Society through Cricket. We look forward to working closely together for this season and hopefully many more to come.”
Arvinder Singh, Chief Operating Officer Gujarat Titans, expressed, “Meesho, a young brand, has shown great growth in recent times. We, at the Gujarat Titans, endeavour to do something similar, by making an early impact on the IPL. We welcome Meesho on board as a partner and look forward to a successful association.”
For IPL 2022, the Rajasthan-based franchise signed a sponsorship deal with Happilo, One Moto and Dollar Industries. The Mukesh Ambani-backed IPL team got Usha International and Slice onboard as commercial partners.
One of the two new IPL teams, Gujarat Giants have performed well on the commercial pitch. They have signed sponsorship deals with Ather Energy, ACKO, toothsi and Capri Global.