Edition #17. Globally, private equity’s appetite for sports is growing. This week, New York-based Otro Capital raised $1.2 billion for its maiden fund, the largest dedicated sports buyout fund ever raised. Also this week, buyouts shop KKR acquired Arctos Capital, which has sizeable investments in professional sports franchises, for $1.4 billion. And, Apollo Global Management is building out a $5 billion for a sports investment platform, Bloomberg reported last year.
India is also seeing its share of private equity (PE) interest in sports, though at a limited scale. From direct stakes in cricket franchises to smaller, dedicated funds targeting sports or sports-related businesses, it’s still in the early days of emerging as a distinct asset class here for PE and venture capital (VC) investors.
Some of the notable deals in this market:
The Indian Premier League has become the testing ground for PE participation. The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) franchise is currently up for grabs. Diageo, which owns RCB’s parent United Spirits, is in the process of selling its stake. The deal may value RCB at $1.4-1.8 billion, according to media reports. Apart from industrialists Ranjan Pai and Adar Poonawalla, PE firms Blackstone, Temasek and EQT, among others are reported to be in the fray.
In February last year, Torrent Investments, an arm of Torrent Group, acquired a 67% stake from CVC in the Gujarat Titans franchise. CVC had invested in Gujarat Titans in 2021 and continues to hold a significant minority stake in the franchise.
Beyond franchise ownership, there’s Centre Court Capital, anchored by JSW scion Parth Jindal, which raised a Rs 410 crore fund in December. Limited partners in the fund include SIDBI, local family offices, sportspersons and entrepreneurs. Its portfolio includes Airoclip, which is using AI to build personalised casual puzzle games; sports broadcasting technology company Quidich; and sports infrastructure development company Michezo.
Recently, StepOut, a sports analytics company, raised capital from Rainmatter, underscoring investor interest in sports-adjacent categories.
The market dynamics here are nascent. Unlike mature markets where PE investors have built institutional frameworks around sports assets, India is still defining its playbook.
Earlier This Week in The Runway
Peak XV managing directors Ashish Agrawal, Ishaan Mittal and Tejeshwi Sharma announced their departures this week from the venture capital firm. The trio is the latest in a long line of senior fund managers who have left the firm over the last two years. While Peak XV’s separation from former parent Sequoia Capital has been followed by an exodus of talent over the last two years, the problems with talent retention go back nearly two decades.
Read the article — Peak XV’s Revolving Door
The Week in Deals
The Whole Truth’s Series D; WestBridge Bets on Climate-tech
Are Series A ticket sizes starting to blow up again? Three startups – Material Depot, Zilo and Loop AI – raised Series A rounds that were $10 million or more. There were 20-odd deals reported this week across PE and VC. The investments were spread across precision manufacturing and robotics to quick commerce, cleantech and deeptech.
Aditya Birla Housing, a subsidiary of Aditya Birla Capital, sold a 14.3% stake to Advent International for Rs 2,750 crore (around $305 million). The deal valued the housing finance company at Rs 19,250 crore. The deal brings Advent back to Aditya Birla Capital, in which it was an investor between 2020 and 2025.
The Whole Truth raised $51 million in a Series D funding round led by Sofina and Sauce VC. Peak XV Partners, Rainmatter Health and Ayra Ventures (founded by former Cipla executive vice chairperson Samina Hamied) joined the round. The round was a mix of secondary and primary capital. Further details were not disclosed. Following the latest round, the clean label snacks and food maker will focus on profitability and “building capabilities required for public market readiness,” it said in a statement.
Varaha, a climate tech startup, raised $45 million in a Series B round. The round is split into two tranches. WestBridge Capital is leading a $20 million initial tranche and will invest another $25 million, along with Omnivore and RTP Global, as part of the second tranche. The deal marks WestBridge’s first in climate-tech. Varaha develops carbon removal projects across biochar, afforestation and regenerative agriculture, and claims an order book worth $100 million over the next 3–4 years.
Bharat Forge arm JS Auto Cast Foundry raised Rs 300 crore ($33 million) from Premji Invest in lieu of a 23% stake. Premji Invest is making the investment through the PI Opportunities Fund I Scheme II. Bharat Forge had acquired JS Auto Cast Foundry, which manufactures ductile iron castings for multiple industries, in 2022.
Euler Motors raised $30 million in a follow-on round from existing investor Hero MotoCorp. The transaction is a mix of primary and secondary capital. Hero MotoCorp’s stake in the electric vehicles startup will increase to about 36% following the primary capital infusion.
Zilo raised $15.3 million in a Series A round led by Peak XV Partners. Existing investors Info Edge Ventures and Chiratae Ventures joined the round, investing $2.5 million each. Peak XV invested $8 million. Alteria Capital, Stride Ventures and a number of individuals also participated in the round. Founded in 2025, Zilo is a fashion marketplace that sources apparel from brands and claims to deliver within 60 minutes of an order being placed. The startup is part of a recent wave of the verticalisation of quick commerce in India.
Loop AI raised a $14 million Series A round led by Nyca Partners. Other investors in the round included Afore Capital, Alumni Ventures and 9Yards Capital. The company offers restaurants and retailers an enterprise AI platform to manage back-office operations.
Material Depot raised $10 million in a Series A round led by Accel and Stellaris Venture Partners. Whiteboard Capital, DeVC, Soma Capital, MyAsiaVC and a group of individual investors participated in the round. The home interior decor materials sourcing platform had earlier raised capital from Y Combinator.
Sub-$5 million deals: Marketing-tech startup Fibr AI raised $5.7 million in a seed round led by Accel. WillowTree Ventures, MVP Ventures and unnamed angel investors joined the round. Preventative nutrition products maker Superfoods Valley (Good Monk) raised $3.6 million in a pre-Series A round led by RPSG Ventures. Plant-based dairy products maker 1.5 Degree raised $1 million in a pre-Series A round led by 35North Ventures. Marine robotics company EyeROV raised $1.4 million in a pre-Series A round led by AWE Funds and Unicorn India Ventures.
Note: This is not an exhaustive list of deals reported this week. Based on information available in the public domain including company filings, press releases and reports published by media outlets.
Submit a deal for The Runway Briefing at hello@therunwaynews.com.
Quickly before we go
2026 is already shaping up into another eventful year for public market outings by PE-VC backed companies.
InMobi, Moneycontrol reports, is preparing for a $500 million-plus domestic initial public offering (IPO). The adtech company is targeting a valuation of $4-5 billion and is in talks with multiple investment banks including Kotak Mahindra Capital, Axis Capital and JP Morgan for the proposed offering, the report said.
Fractal Analytics, pitched as India’s first homegrown AI-focused company to go public, has set a price band of Rs 857-900 per share for its upcoming initial public offering (IPO) on Monday (February 9). The company reduced the size of its offering to Rs 2,834 crore (about $312.5 million) from the initially planned Rs 4,900 crore. CEO Srikanth Velamakanni told Reuters that the company was advised to trim the size of the offering because “Investors don’t understand AI right now.” The IPO has a Rs 1,810 crore offer-for-sale portion and selling shareholders include Apax Partners’ affiliate Quinag Bidco, TPG Fett Holdings and GLM Family Trust.
That’s all we have for you in this edition of the Briefing.
Have a good week ahead.
Thank you for reading The Runway. We’d love to get your feedback. Drop us a line.