Centre Court Capital, anchored by JSW Cement managing director Parth Jindal, has closed its debut fund at Rs 410 crore ($45.5 million) as it looks to invest in companies across sports, fitness, wellness and social gaming.
Other backers of the fund include institutional investors and family offices, with names ranging from SIDBI and SRI to Premji Invest, SanRaj Group and GMR Sports, among others.
The investor roster also includes top athletes and public figures such as Neeraj Chopra, Rishabh Pant, PV Sindhu and Jemimah Rodrigues, besides entrepreneurs Binny Bansal, Mithun Sacheti and Ankit Nagori.
With the final close, the fund is understood to have surpassed the initial target of Rs 350 crore set earlier in 2024.
“The opportunity is large and growing, and recent estimates place India’s broader sports economy at about $19 billion today, expected to reach nearly $40 billion by 2030,” Mustafa Ghouse, Founder and General Partner at Centre Court Capital, was quoted as saying.
Centre Court plans to write initial cheques of about Rs 8-24 crore, per media reports. The fund targets to complete about 15-18 investments. The firm is also understood to have reserved significant capital for follow-on rounds and plans to lead or co-lead most of the deals.
Established in 2022, Centre Court has already clocked six investments that include cricket fan platform Fancraze Technologies, sports infrastructure firm Michezo Sports, aerial and broadcast technology startup Quidich Innovation Labs and gaming studio Airoclip. The firm has kept a 6-7 year exit horizon.
