Major League Cricket USA raise 120 million dollars in a series A and A1 fundraising round that includes Silicon Valley heavyweights like Satya Nadella.
According to MLC, the six-team franchise T20 league sanctioned by USA Cricket, 44 million dollars has been secured following the completion of these funding rounds, with another 76 million dollars set to be secured over the next 12 months.
Along with Dallas-based Ross Perot Jnr, a Texas billionaire, and his partner Anurag Jain, the Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella-led consortium has invested 16 million dollars in the MLC enterprise’s primary stock pool which has helped Major League Cricket USA raise 120 million dollars.
According to a Cricbuzz report, the Nadella group will gain the rights to manage the MLC franchise in Seattle, while the Perot-led consortium will handle the MLC franchise in Dallas.
Anand Rajaraman and Venky Harinarayan (Founders of Milliways Ventures and Rocketship VC), Sanjay Govil (Founder and Chairman of Infinite Computer Solutions and CEO of Zyter), The Baheti Family (Owners of YASH Technologies), and Tanweer Ahmed are among the other investors (CEO, PAK Foods, CEO, OUR Energy). Ahmed is also the proprietor of America’s largest cricket complex (Prairie View Cricket Complex), which has five turf-wicket facilities on the outskirts of Houston.
Major League Cricket USA raise 120 million dollars and the completion of these financing rounds is a huge boost for this cricket’start-up.’ MLC is obligated to deliver six world-class cricket stadiums as part of their arrangement with USA Cricket. MLC, for example, has exclusive negotiating arrangements with local governments in the greater Seattle, Los Angeles, and San Francisco Bay areas to build multibillion-dollar cricket stadiums.
Major League Cricket USA raise 120 million dollars and the monies raised in rounds A and A1 will strengthen the company’s financial position in order to close the deals currently in the works. MLC has already signed a long-term lease for Airhogs Stadium near Dallas, and is planning to begin renovations for cricket use this summer.
In a statement, Major League Cricket co-founders Sameer Mehta and Vijay Srinivasan said, “The significant funding committed by an outstanding group of investors will allow Major League Cricket to build first-class facilities and accelerate the sport’s development across the country, bringing world-class professional cricket to the world’s largest sports market.”
“Leading business executives and successful tech entrepreneurs who have led some of the world’s most recognisable companies make up this investment group. They bring a wealth of experience and knowledge to MLC’s intentions to develop a game-changing Twenty20 league and position America as one of the world’s premier destinations for international cricket events “he added.
The news of Major League Cricket USA raise 120 million dollars is a big boost to getting the sports of cricket into mainland USA.