Centre Court Capital Closes Maiden Fund At INR 410 Cr

SUMMARY

Centre Court Capital will be backing 15-18 startups operating in the sports and gaming category, with an average ticket size of INR 8 Cr to INR 24 Cr each

The fund saw backing from investors like JSW Cement's Parth Jindal, SIDBI, Premji Invest, Flipkart’s Binny Bansal, Caratlane’s Mithun Sacheti as well as sports celebrities like Rishabh Pant and PV Sindhu

Centre Court Capital was founded by Mustafa Ghouse in 2024 with an initial corpus of INR 350 Cr

Sports and gaming focussed venture capital (VC) firm Centre Court Capital has announced the final close of its maiden fund at INR 410 Cr, surpassing the initial target corpus of INR 350 Cr.

In a statement, the Mumbai-based VC firm said that the fund was anchored by JSW Cement’s managing director Parth Jindal along with investment from domestic institutional investors like SIDBI, Premji Invest, SanRaj Group and GMR Sports.

Further, other investors for the fund included sports and media personalities such as Neeraj Chopra, Rishabh Pant, PV Sindhu, Jemimah Rodrigues, as well as entrepreneurs like Flipkart’s Binny Bansal, Caratlane’s Mithun Sacheti and Curefoods’ CEO Ankit Nagori.

With the fund, Centre Court Capital will be backing 15-18 startups operating in the sports and gaming category, with an average ticket size of INR 8 Cr to INR 24 Cr each.

It is pertinent to note that the fund has already invested in six startups including Quidich Innovation Labs, Michezo Sports, and Stupa Sports Analytics.

Centre Court Capital founder and general partner Mustafa Ghouse told Inc42 that his fund will focus on building its portfolio over the next 12–18 months. Ghouse expressed a bullish view on the often-overlooked sectors of sports, fitness, and gaming within the Indian startup ecosystem, arguing that this “underdog” focus could deliver a significant long-term advantage.

Ghouse’s confidence is rooted in the current positive growth trajectory of India’s sports and gaming sectors, which is driving significant developments in both infrastructure and talent. However, he identifies a substantial opportunity for disruption due to the current limited adoption of technology and sports science.

“In terms of technology adoption in India’s sport segment, even in a massive sport like cricket, I think penetration is limited. There are a lot of books still building in the space – from player development, analytics perspective, fan engagement perspective,to data capturing perspective. All of that is still wide open and there is a huge gap that can be filled,” he added.

The Indian sports market is booming, driven by increasing enthusiasm, digital transformation, and operational efficiency. According to a joint Google and Deloitte report, the market was valued at $52 Bn in FY24 and is projected to more than double to $130 Bn by FY30.

To capitalise on this opportunity, Ghouse founded Centre Court Capital in 2024 after an over 13 year long stint with JSW Sports as its CEO. Besides his executive career, he is also a former Asian Games Bronze medalist and an ex-member of the Indian Davis Cup team.