A BUSINESS backed by Scottish tennis star Andy Murray has been valued at £10 million in a £1.3 million funding round, as it pursues development of a UK-wide network of playing facilities for “one of the world’s fastest-growing participation sports”.

Game4Padel announced completion of its third successful funding round this morning, revealing it had raised the £1.3m to help finance its expansion plans for padel, the tennis-squash hybrid game that it notes is “spreading rapidly across the UK, continental Europe and the rest of the world”. It noted the latest equity-raise had valued it at £10m.

The new capital will go towards building up to 300 new courts within the next five years. The company noted its two previous fundraising exercises – on inception in 2019 and then in March 2020 – had both been “heavily oversubscribed”, raising a total of £1.25m.

It added: “The company is deploying capital so quickly, to meet the growing demand for padel courts from a range of UK partners, that it is already considering launching a fourth round of fundraising later this summer to ensure it can keep pace with demand.”

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When he announced he was adding to his investment portfolio with a stake in Game4Padel in May 2019, Wimbledon, US Open and Olympic champion Andy Murray said: "It’s great for young people to play a variety of sports and Padel is a fast-paced game which is excellent for developing hand eye co-ordination and racket skills.”

Last month, Game4Padel signed heads of terms with Europe’s largest retail destination, Westfield London, to install and operate three covered outdoor courts and two pop-up show courts. Subject to planning, the three permanent courts are expected to open in January next year.

In April, as the UK emerged from the latest lockdown, Game4Padel opened a padel venue in Wales, at Windsor Penarth near Cardiff.

Game4Padel said: “The firm is also in detailed discussions with some 50 other sites – including major retail destinations, business parks, leisure centres as well as sports venues – which it anticipates will add more than 50 courts to the seven already in use at its five current UK venues.”

Jim McMahon, chairman of Game4Padel, said: “This is an incredibly exciting period for our company and for the game of padel in the UK."

Mr McMahon,who is chairman of football club Motherwell and a founding partner of investment business West Coast Capital, added: "It’s not often a business can say with certainty that it is in the right place at the right time, but given the vast experience in our team, the growth potential of the sport, our investor and capital base and the huge demand we are experiencing, I feel confident in saying that now.”

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Game4Padel said its latest funding round had "further strengthened the firm’s investor base by introducing new backers to an already diverse and experienced group that includes company ambassadors and broadcasters Annabel Croft and Andrew Castle, the former British number one tennis players, and Jonathan Davies, the Welsh rugby legend".

Entrepreneur Michael Gradon, co-founder and chief executive of Game4Padel, said: “Padel is at a tipping point in the UK, in terms of participation and popularity, and we have an ambition to be a major part of that growth story over the next few years, using our knowledge and expertise to develop the best facilities in the best locations for the best overall user experience.

“We have a high degree of confidence that we can deploy all the equity raised in premium UK sites within the next 12 months. Our first four venues are already operating ahead of our financial projections, despite the lockdown restrictions of the last year, and we recently opened a trial court at the prestigious 4,000-member St George’s Hill Lawn Tennis Club in Surrey, which we hope will prove the case for three permanent courts to be built there.”