Courtside Ventures, an early-stage VC firm, has announced its $100 million Fund III to invest in global companies across sports, gaming and lifestyle sector.
Since its launch in 2016, Courtside Ventures has made several investments in Indian companies, including WinZo, FanCraze, Zionverse and Fello. Fund III investors include a diverse group of leaders across professional sports team owners, athletes and industry executives.
For instance, Tony Ressler (Co-Founder & Executive Chairman of Ares Management and Majority Owner of Atlanta Hawks), Dan Gilbert (Founder & Chairman of Rocket Mortgage and Chairman of Cleveland Cavaliers), David Blitzer (Co-Owner of Philadelphia 76ers, NJ Devils, Cleveland Guardians and Crystal Palace), Dee and Jimmy Haslam (CEO, Chairman and Managing Partners at Haslam Sports Group), Whitney Haslam Johnson and JW Johnson (Partners at Haslam Sports Group), among others. Athletes who have invested include Larry Fitzgerald, Shaquille O’Neal, Jacob Trouba and more.
The large majority of Fund III investors returned from prior Courtside funds, joined by more than 50 new relationships. The announcement brings Courtside Ventures’ total committed capital to over $200 million AUM (assets under management). “Courtside Ventures has a track record of successfully backing and accelerating culture-shaping companies that are driving innovation, and with Fund III we will continue to invest with conviction in great founders and disruptive ideas in our key verticals of sports, fitness, collectibles and gaming,” says Deepen Parikh, partner at Courtside Ventures.
He added, “We will also continue to put a strong emphasis on global investment opportunities as our vertical focus and learnings from the US market are applicable to larger and higher growth regions. We remain heavily committed to our portfolio companies, all of which are well positioned to maintain resilience in a market where calculated execution is key.”
Courtside has made investments in more than 80 thematically-focused companies across 8 countries. Fund I has already returned 1.61X in net DPI proceeds to LPs, ranking it in the top 10 per cent of all venture funds in their vintage. Notable investments since inception include The Athletic (acquired by The New York Times), WinZO, Beam (acquired by Microsoft), StockX, 100Thieves, VEO, Religion of Sports, Rei do Pitaco, Freeletics, FanCraze, and Paceline, among several others.
Courtside Ventures has already begun deployment of Fund III, partnering with early-stage founders with visions for the future of sports, gaming, and lifestyle applications globally. Early Fund III investments include Hypothetic, Matchday, Mojo, Xpoint, Jackpot.com, Venly, Planet Mojo, Bezel, Fliff, Fermat and Fello.