Centre Court Capital Research
Investment Thesis
Centre Court Capital (CCC) is a Mumbai-based venture fund that backs founders building at the intersection of sports, fitness and wellness, and gaming and interactive media, with a stated aim of developing an ecosystem for India where sports and gaming flourish. The firm argues that the sports economy is being rebuilt in software at every layer, from how an athlete trains to how a fan watches, and that broadcast money and franchise leagues are making this real. It invests in analytics and data platforms, broadcast technology, fan engagement, league and franchise operations, and sports infrastructure. In wellness it wants products that can prove outcomes rather than screen time. In gaming and media it looks for strong IP, durable distribution, game studios, publishing platforms, development infrastructure and creator-driven interactive media.
Stage Focus
Seed through Series B, with most portfolio entries at Seed or Series A. The firm keeps the fund deliberately small so that the partner who wrote the cheque stays closely involved.
Check Size
Initial investments of $1M to $3M, with flexibility to scale for the most transformative companies. Press on the fund close cites initial tickets of INR 8 to 24 crore and a plan for roughly 15 to 18 deals.
Lead Tendency
Both. CCC led or co-led Michezo ($2.5M with Rainmatter) and Spill Games ($3.1M seed with PeerCapital), and took a board seat at Quintar, but it participated in PlayReplay's $12M raise, Airoclip's $2.75M round (alongside T-Accelerate Capital and Bitkraft) and Stupa's INR 28 crore round (with PeerCapital).
Fund and Recent Activity
Fund I is a Category II AIF registered in GIFT City (IFSC). It launched in April 2024 with a INR 350 crore (about $42M) target and a first close, and closed in December 2025 at INR 410 crore (about $45M), oversubscribed. Deployment has been steady: Quintar (April 2024), Stupa (May 2024), Quidich (June 2024), Airoclip (October 2025), Michezo (November 2025), Spill Games (April 2026), PlayReplay (May 2026), Rocapine (June 2026) and PlayBlue (July 2026). The fund is actively deploying.
Portfolio Highlights
The website lists eleven companies:
- Quidich: broadcast and drone/camera technology for sports (Series A, June 2024)
- Quintar: spatial and augmented-reality fan experiences (Series A, April 2024)
- Stupa Sports Analytics: sports analytics (INR 28 crore round, May 2024)
- Michezo: sports platform ($2.5M, November 2025)
- Airoclip: AI-powered gaming studio ($2.75M, October 2025)
- Spill Games: games studio ($3.1M seed, April 2026)
- PlayBlue: omnichannel sports retail ($2.7M seed, July 2026)
- PlayReplay: sports ($12M round, May 2026)
- Rocapine: AI-driven wellness app studio ($13M Series A, June 2026)
- FanCraze and Felicity Games, listed without public round details
No exits are disclosed.
Team
- Mustafa Ghouse, General Partner: former India tennis player (Davis Cup, Asian Games bronze), founding CEO of JSW Sports, built the Inspire Institute of Sport, ran IPL, ISL and PKL franchise operations, Fortune India 40 Under 40.
- Alok Samtaney, Partner: 15+ years in venture and PE, formerly Principal at TVS Capital Funds and twelve years at Sabre Partners; Chartered Accountant, MBA from S.P. Jain.
- Kislay Shashwat, Senior Principal: formerly VP Investments at Lumikai (India's first gaming fund), consumer internet investments at Xiaomi's global arm, M&A at JP Morgan.
- Faraz Abdi, Vice President: founding member; previously Birthstone Capital, EY restructuring, Centrum Capital.
- Krishna Borkute, Senior Analyst.
- Priya Shah (Financial Controller) and Tanushree Pevekar (Executive Assistant) round out the team.
Decision Process
A small partnership. The team says founders work directly with the member who understood the business and wrote the cheque. No committee structure is published. Whether a warm introduction is required is not stated; the site has an open contact form and email.
Founder Preferences
Founders who approach a company like an athlete approaches a sport: obsessed with craft, honest about the scoreboard, resilient after losses. They want people who know their space better than CCC does, who spend carefully, and who have real traction or a clear line to it. The firm says every partner has built, operated or competed inside sports, gaming or media, and cites direct lines to leagues, franchises, federations, publishers and broadcasters.
Geographic Focus
India first. The stated goal is an Indian sports and gaming ecosystem, though portfolio companies such as Quintar and Rocapine have international footprints. The vehicle is domiciled in GIFT City, Gujarat, with offices in Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai.
Gaps
Check size beyond the initial range, reserve policy, and Fund I vintage details are not published. Domains for most portfolio companies were not given on the portfolio page and are left null.