NEW INNINGS

The Indian gaming industry has capped yet T another remarkable year in which it saw its value soar to $2.6 billion.

- Resham Suhail and Arjun Yadav

It is expected to carry forward this momentum and touch the $4 billion mark by 2027. The boom has coincided with the rise of sportstech as a domain where technology is getting aggressively integrated into sports.

The domain received a fresh boost during the annual Abu Dhabi Finance Week where on day one Indian cricketer Shikhar Dhawan announced the launch of a global investment fund worth $75 million, a first such move by an Asian sportsperson. Da One Global Ventures (DOGV) marks a new innings for the swashbuckling left-handed opening batsman and occasional captain of the Indian national cricket teams. Dhawan also leads Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League and Delhi in first-class cricket.

Talking about his avatar as an investor, Dhawan says he finds a lot of similarities between his two roles. "I believe in energy. My effort would always have been to share a lot of positive energy with others while maintaining my individuality. The collaboration and partnership with the right set of people to make the right move are critical," he says.

Aware that as a sportsman his career would have a limited span, he says it was very important for him to foray into and set up a parallel professional stream. "I am thankful to a very amazing team. To make it happen, my team invested a whole year for in-depth research and development," he adds.

DOGV: Plan and Potential According to Dhawan, DOGV will go beyond traditional investing models and will provide domain knowledge and unprecedented access to sporting ecosystems across the globe. “We are making a humble beginning but aim to scale this to greater heights and aspire to set new benchmarks for leading in venture capital, sports and technology,” Dhawan asserts.