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

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

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 far, Sajjan Jindal’s Family Trust as anchor investor for fund.

Parth is also founder of JSW Sports.

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

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. 

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

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

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

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

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

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 furr drive growth and innovation in what is an ever-evolving sector, Parth Jindal said.