Centre Court Capital launches Rs 350-crore fund for investment in e-sports platform ecosystem

New Delhi: Centre Court Capital has launched its maiden fund of Rs 350 crore for investment in the Indian e-sports platform ecosystem over the next three years, a senior official of the venture capital firm said on Thursday.

Centre Court Capital Founder and General Partner Mustafa Ghouse said the fund was approved by capital market regulator Sebi a year ago. The company has raised Rs 200 crore for the fund and expects to close the entire fundraise by end of this year.

"Our first target is to close the Rs 350 crore fund by the end of this calendar. Target is to make 15-18 investments over the next three years in Indian businesses. Sports tech and gaming are a focus investment area for us. We have already raised Rs 200 crore as part of this fund and there is a greenshoe option of another Rs 350 crore," he said.

Centre Court Capital (CCC) will invest Rs 8-24 crore in early stage startups and has reserved 50 per cent of the fund for follow-up investments.

CCC has already made a couple of investments from the fund and plans to announce a few more shortly.

Ghouse, who was founding CEO of JSW Sports, said that the fund has the Sajjan Jindal Family Trust as anchor investor, with Parth Jindal at the helm.

"We have also been tracking the growth of the e-sports and gaming sectors and we are excited to see the champions from India emerge. 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," JSW Cement and JSW Paints MD and JSW Sports Founder Parth Jindal said.

Ghouse said that CCC will soon launch an offshore feeder fund in GIFT City to raise capital from international investors.