Centre Court Capital announces Rs 350 crore VC fund for gaming and sports tech

Centre Court Capital has announced the launch of a Rs 350 crore venture capital (VC) fund for transforming India’s sports and gaming landscape, it said on April 4.

The fund was founded by former CEO of JSW Sports Mustafa Ghouse, in partnership with Alok Samtaney, former Investment Director with TVS Capital and Sabre Partners.

It is anchored by JSW Cement and JSW Paints MD Parth Jindal with his father, Sajjan Jindal’s Family Trust as the anchor investor for the fund.

Parth is also the founder of JSW Sports.

Others who have pooled in capital for the sector-focus VC fund’s corpus include the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), Premji Invest, USK Capital,  GMR Sports, and SG Sports.

The fund has raised Rs 200 crore until now in commitments from investors and top athletes.

Centre Court Capital is a SEBI-registered Category II AIF, which is launching an offshore feeder fund in GIFT City soon in order to raise capital from international investors. 

The fund, which has already completed its first two investments in the sports tech space, will focus on early stage opportunities in the range of Rs 8 to 24 crores. The rest 40-50 per cent of the fund will be reserved for follow-on investments. 

Mustafa Ghouse happens to be a former Asian Games Bronze medalist and member of the Indian Davis Cup team. He was the founding CEO of JSW Sports, and has also put together India’s foremost Olympic training facility Inspire Institute of Sport.

“We firmly believe in the potential of the space, and are focussed on backing exceptional founders who believe they are now ready to compete with the best in class, globally,” he said.

Ghouse went on to highlight how technology is dominating the narrative of how sport is played and consumed, with their intent of being at the forefront of this revolution.

Public and private investment in sports have more than quadrupled since 2020, he said, adding that India has the second largest population of gamers at 39.6 crore. 

The gaming sector is poised to grow at a 5-year CAGR of 21 per cent, according to Ghouse, who serves as General Partner of Centre Court Capital.

We are proud to be early backers of Centre Court Capital's pioneering fund, which will further drive growth and innovation in what is an ever-evolving sector, Parth Jindal said.