SUMMARY
Centre Court Capital, a SEBI-registered Category II AIF, had already raised INR 200 Cr in commitments
The fund has the Sajjan Jindal Family Trust as an anchor investor, with Parth Jindal at the helm
It will look to focus on early-stage opportunities, earmarking INR 8 to 24 Cr, while reserving 40-50% of the fund for follow-on investments
Mumbai-based venture capital fund Centre Court Capital has rolled out its maiden INR 350 Cr fund with a focus on sports and gaming space.
Centre Court Capital, a SEBI-registered Category II AIF, had already raised INR 200 Cr in commitments from eminent investors and top athletes.
The fund has the Sajjan Jindal Family Trust as an anchor investor, with Parth Jindal at the helm, along with the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), PremjiInvest, USK Capital and other large corporate sports investors in the country, including GMR Sports and SG Sports among others.
Other notable figures from the world of sports and media have also joined.
The fund was founded by Mustafa Ghouse who is the former CEO of JSW Sports, former Asian Games Bronze medalist and member of the Indian Davis Cup team. He brings with him the operating experience of having put together Inspire Institute of Sport, India’s premier Olympic training facility, aside from leading the acquisition and heading teams across the IPL, ISL, and PKL.
He is joined in by Alok Samtaney, former Investment Director with TVS Capital and Sabre Partners with more than 15 years of experience. He has made and managed a diversified portfolio of venture capital and private equity investments and has seen a substantial number of exits.
According to Ghouse, with this fund, they want to be at the forefront of India’s sports and gaming revolution. Both public and private investment in Sports has more than quadrupled since 2020.
“As a result, we’re seeing an acceleration in the number of startups that are building from India for India and the world. Adding to that, with 396 million gamers, we’re the 2nd largest population of gamers in the world and the gaming sector is poised to grow at a 5-year CAGR of 21%,” he added.
The fund has already completed its first two investments in the sports tech space, although the names of startups remain undisclosed. It will look to focus on early-stage opportunities, earmarking INR 8 to 24 Cr, while reserving 40-50% of the fund for follow-on investments.
Also, Centre Court Capital is soon launching an offshore feeder fund in GIFT City, to raise capital from international investors.
