PE firm FW Sports picks up stake in Smaaash

Sports simulation technology provider Smaaash Entertainment has roped in Mauritius-based FW Sports Investment Fund, making this the first round of PE funding into the company, which is backed by cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar and broadcasting major Star group.
The company did not specify the amount the PE fund put in.
Post this fund-raising Smaaash now has a total equity capital base of approximately Rs 150 crore.
Smaaash pioneered sports simulation technology in the country, blending sports, music and dining into an immersive and involved social entertainment experience and opened its first such sports-based entertainment centre is 2012 in the city.

Smaaash is promoted by serial entrepreneur Shripal Morakhia, who had earlier founded ShareKhan.
FW Sports is the first dedicated sports fund in the entire Asia and this is its second investment in the field after it had acquired a significant minority stake in Technology Frontiers, a leading global provider of in-stadia activation solutions.

The fund is led by Anand S Krishnan, who was earlier a managing director at JPMorgan in the Americas and Asia.
FW Sports has picked up a significant minority stake in Smaaash, the company said without quantifying it.
"Our plan is to open multiple centres across the country and globally over the next couple of years, and this funding will help us immensely with our global plans," Morakhia said.

Commenting on the fund infusion, Tendulkar who is a strategic investor in the company said, "The advanced simulators at Smaaash are fascinating and are very close to real life experience.
"Sporting enthusiasts can leverage the technology at Smaaash to harness their skills and gain experience of challenges faced on the field. Its facilities cater to the demands of the young, sporting minds of the nation.