JSW Steel managing director Sajjan Jindal’s family trust has joined as the anchor investor for venture firm Centre Court Capital’s maiden Rs 350 crore fund.
The gaming and sports-focused firm said it has already received Rs 200 crore in commitments from limited partners (LPs). It did not disclose the commitment from Sajjan Jindal’s family trust.
“The Jindal family is very bullish about the gaming and sports sectors in India, and anchoring this fund is an extension of that belief…however, these investments won’t have any direct relation to JSW Sports (sic),” said Mustafa Ghouse, general partner at Centre Court Capital. Ghouse was earlier the chief executive of JSW Sports.
JSW Sports owns properties like Twenty20 cricket team Delhi Capitals and football team Bengaluru FC.
Other LPs for the fund include Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), PremjiInvest, USK Capital, GMR Sports, and SG Sports.
The fund has a ten-year maturity period. It will invest in gaming and sports-adjacent firms, and aim to buy stakes in mid-teens alongside other rights and board seats. Centre Court Capital is aiming to raise the entire fund by 2024-end, Ghouse said.
The fund will invest $1-3 million in pre-Series A and Series A rounds, totalling 15 to 18 investments. Half of the funds will be reserved for follow-on investments.
“This sector is still nascent, so we will require more fluidity when it comes to investments… we will also consider pre-revenue firms,” Ghouse said.
The fund will target startups in sectors like casual and hyper-casual mobile gaming, game streaming, tournament hosting, broadcast tech, sports analytics, sports bookings, nutrition and fitness.
The Indian gaming sector has seen a flurry of activity in the past year, with the likes of streaming firm Rooter and events firm Nodwin tapping investors like Lightbox, Krafton and Sony Group. Another gaming-focused investor Lumikai launched its second fund in June 2023, targeting $50 million.
At the same time, listed gaming and media firm Nazara Technologies raised Rs 760 crore from investors like Zerodha cofounder Nikhil Kamath, SBI Mutual Fund, and ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund, besides setting up its own publishing arm.
“Given how nascent this sector is, we closely collaborate with firms like Lumikai and Kalaari Capital when making investments,” Ghouse said.
