Ipl: Why no IPL for these startups this year – Times of India

With a long funding winter for startups, these new-age companies are giving Indian Premier League (IPL) sponsorship a miss this year. According to a report in Economic Times (ET), many consumer internet companies and startups, which have been heavy advertisers and sponsors during the IPL over the last few years, appear to be giving this year’s edition a miss. This comes amid the so-called funding crunch and an overall reset in the technology industry worldwide.
The big names who are reportedly staying away from this IPL 2023 include edtech majors Byju’s and Unacademy, online payments firm PhonePe, subscription service Amazon Prime, healthcare startup Pristyn Care, quick commerce player Zepto, fintech Niyo, and music streaming company Spotify.
The report further adds that some valued tech startups such as SoftBank portfolio companies like Meesho and online used car marketplace Cars24, which were sponsors of specific teams earlier, too have decided to skip the IPL this season.
Interestingly, Gaurav Munjal, cofounder and chief executive of edtech unicorn Unacademy, in a tweet posted in July 2022, had called IPL as one of the best brand building platforms, but at the same time he had said that the company will miss the next IPL. “The last three years with IPL were amazing. Our Brand went to another level. I recommend all upcoming Brands to partner with IPL. Our focus has changed. Hence the decision to not do IPL next year.”

Another perspective to this is also that the turmoil in the edtech sector had started last year itself.
Companies that are onboard
The electric two-wheeler maker Ather Energy is said to continue its partnership with the IPL team Gujarat Titans. There are, however, few startups that have signed up with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as official partners for IPL. These include Dream11, Cred, Upstox, and Swiggy Instamart. The report quoting sources says that some of the new-economy companies are still negotiating with broadcasting and streaming platforms to buy spot advertising deals, instead of signing up as full-time sponsors.
According to the report, Disney has onboarded eleven sponsors and around 60 spot advertisers. The sponsors include Dream11, Airtel, Asian Paints, Coca Cola, PepsiCo, Tata Group, Swiggy, Mondelez, and Vivo. Viacom18, on the other hand, is said to have has signed on sponsors such as Dream11, Parle Agro, ET Money, TVS, Puma, Mondelez, ITC, PepsiCo, Kamla Pasand, Castrol and UltraTech Cement.