Sports education and training company KOOH Sports has raised about ₹75 crores ($10 million) from India focused private equity firm Gaja Capital, as reported by Economic Times.
The deal is expected to be a mix of primary and secondary stake, where a few existing investors will make a part exit from KOOH Sports.
This marks Gaja Capital’s ninth investment from its third fund.
KOOH, which stands for “Kids Out Of Home”, was founded by Susir Kumar and Prabhu Srinivasan in 2010. The company delivers grass root programs at schools to inculcate interest in sports through sports development centres and promotes talent.
The company has helped more than 200,000 children through its sports initiatives, across India and UAE, in the last four years.
Talking about the investment, Gopal Jain, Managing Partner, Gaja Capital, said, “Youth sports is a $20 billion business globally and we believe it to be at an inflexion point in India. As Indians move from watching sports to playing and training for competitive sports, there is an opportunity to create a valuable performance sports platform.”
KOOH Sports will be brought under SportzVillage, the Gaja Capital-owned sports education provider, in order to offer sports management services to schools and corporates.
KOOH Sports last raised $2.2 million in a funding round led by HDFC Holding, along with participation from other investors including, Faering Capital and Elevate Sports, in October 2016. It also counts Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), among its investors.
Mumbai-based Gaja Capital was founded by Gopal Jain, Ranjit Shah, and Imran Jafar, in 2004. It provides growth capital to startups led by ambitious entrepreneurs creating value across various sectors such as education, consumer, and financial services.
Among its notable investments include Massive Restaurants, Chumbak, an online brand store for women, Kinara Capital, EuroKids, and edtech startup Educational Initiatives.
In July 2018, Educational Initiatives raised $25 million from Gaja Capital.