Sleeper Raises $40M in Funding Round, Posts Strong User Base Growth

Fantasy sports group Sleeper has raised $40 million in fresh funding on the tail of a strong user base growth over the past several months. The round reunited a number of prominent investors who have come to back the platform once again. 

Sports Personalities Rally Behind Sleeper Yet Again 

Among those were popular names such as Twitch co-founder Kevin Lin, NFL athlete Byron Jones, NBA’s Kevin Durant, Baron Davis, and Klay Thompson. The firm revealed that it had been able to successfully amass a user base of over three million active sign-ups, marking a 100% growth since the beginning of the year.

This piqued interest and led to a strong turnout during the funding round. Sleeper covers numerous sports and offers fantasy selections for NFL and NBA, NCAAB and NCAAF, as well as League of Legends, a popular competitive video game with millions of fans around the world. Part of its sustainable growth has been the platform’s ability to retain consumers who have already shown interest in its offering. 

Sleeper CEO Nan Wang welcomed the developments and said that the company has been looking to provide people with a product that brings them together and that the achieved progress has been a step in this direction. 

“As we’ve exceeded our own growth expectations this year, our engagement has gone up. Sleeper is more than a fantasy sports app, it’s a place to hang out with your friends, and it’s for that reason that our users stay active and keep coming back,” Wang noted. 

The round was led by Andreessen Horowitz, a venture capital firm. Commenting on this, general partner at Andreessen Horowitz Andrew Chen said that Sleeper brought on a multiplayer experience that allows fans to connect and leads to strong engagement, retention, and organic growth. 

“I’m thrilled my partners leading the a16z growth fund wanted to invest further as the Sleeper team builds the go-to sporting community,” Chen concluded.