Major League Cricket (MLC) has completed a $44 million Series A and A1 Fundraising Round in an expansion of the sport across the US.
With an additional commitment of $76 million in further fundraising over the next 12 months in place, MLC also plans to deploy more than $120 million to launch the country’s first-ever professional Twenty20 cricket league.
The organisation has explained that the investment will primarily be dedicated to building premier cricket-specific stadia and training centres to develop ‘a new generation of American star cricketers’.
Sameer Mehta and Vijay Srinivasan, Co-Founders of MLC, said in a joint statement: “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.”
Investor groups for the Series A and A1 Fundraising Round, which includes MLC’s seed funding round, were led by Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, and Soma Somasegar, Managing Director of Madrona Venture Group.
Other contributors from the group included Anand Rajaraman, Venky Harinarayan, Sanjay Govil, Anurag Jain, Ross Perot Jr., Tanweer Ahmed and the Baheti family.
The Co-Founders continued: “This investor group comprises leading business executives and successful tech entrepreneurs who have led some of the world’s most prominent companies.
“They bring tremendous experience and expertise in support of MLC’s plans to launch a transformative Twenty20 league and establish America as one of the world’s leading homes for international cricket events.”
The financial injection also aims to improve the landscape for professional cricket and enable the US to host global events over the next decade, bringing together players from around the world.
Following his participation in the investment, Jain added: “The ceiling for cricket’s growth in the US is incredibly high, with the passion for the game at the grassroots level I’ve observed in Texas proof of its potential.
“I am proud to be part of a group of investors committed to rapidly accelerating cricket’s progress through Major League Cricket. The plans MLC have laid out to develop infrastructure and build a foundation for professional cricket to thrive nationwide puts the sport on a tremendous trajectory and I am excited to support this vision.”