Centre Court Capital has announced the launch of a Rs 350-crore (about $42 million) fund to revolutionise India’s sports and gaming landscape.
Founded by Mustafa Ghouse, the former CEO of JSW Sports; along with Alok Samtaney, who was earlier an investment director with TVS Capital and Sabre Partners, the fund has the Sajjan Jindal Family Trust as anchor investor, with Parth Jindal at the helm.
The fund will back founders bringing innovative tech and pushing the boundaries of the sports and gaming ecosystem—a segment that is fast becoming a significant asset class, it said in a statement.
The first-of-its-kind, the sector-focused VC fund claims to have already got Rs 200 crore in commitments from investors and top athletes.
Joining the Jindal family, which has played a big role in shaping India’s sports ecosystem over the last decade, are the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), PremjiInvest, USK Capital, and other large corporate sports investors in the country such as GMR Sports and SG Sports. Other notable figures from the world of sports and media have also joined.
“The sports and gaming sectors are experiencing unprecedented growth in the country. Tech is dominating the narrative of how sport is played and consumed, and we want to be at the forefront of this revolution,” Mustafa Ghouse, founder and general partner of Centre Court Capital, said in a statement.
Mustafa, a former Asian Games Bronze medalist and member of the Indian Davis Cup team, went on to become the founding CEO of JSW Sports.
“I’ve always been a firm believer that sports has the power to inspire change and bring people together. Over the last decade, we have backed, invested, and developed the sport in India in a big way, and our commitment stems from our belief in the potential of sports in India,” said Parth Jindal, MD of JSW Cement Ltd. and JSW Paints Pvt. Ltd., and founder of JSW Sports.
Centre Court Capital is a SEBI-registered Category II AIF which is soon launching an offshore feeder fund in GIFT City to raise capital from international investors. The fund has already completed its first two investments in the sports tech space. It will focus on early-stage opportunities, earmarking Rs 8- 24 crore, while reserving 40-50% of the fund for follow-on investments.
