e-commerce
Game, set, match: Sports stars serve up Rs 410 crore fund
MUMBAI: Nothing like putting your money where your medals are. Centre Court Capital has closed its maiden fund at Rs 410 crore, comfortably acing its initial target of Rs 350 crore. The firm’s roster of backers reads like a roll call at the Olympic Village: cricketing sensation Rishabh Pant, badminton champion PV Sindhu, batting star Jemimah Rodrigues and javelin king Neeraj Chopra have all signed up.
They’re joined by heavyweight institutional players including the Small Industries Development Bank of India (Sidbi), Premji Invest, SanRaj Family Ventures and GMR Sports, anchored by Parth Jindal. The entrepreneurial brigade—Binny Bansal, Mithun Sacheti and Ankit N—rounds out the team sheet.
With this war chest, Centre Court Capital plans to back 15 to 18 startups across sports, fitness, wellness, esports and gaming. Typical cheques will range between Rs 8 crore and Rs 24 crore per company. The firm has already deployed capital in six ventures, including Quidich Innovation Labs, Michezo Sports and Stupa Sports.
Founder Mustafa Ghouse reckons there’s enormous scope for technology to transform Indian sports—from analytics and player development to sports science and fan engagement. He’s not wrong. India’s sports market, valued at $52 billion in FY24, is sprinting towards $130 billion by FY30. That’s the kind of growth curve that makes venture capitalists break into a sweat.
The pitch is clear: invest in the picks and shovels of India’s sporting gold rush. With athletes who understand the game from the inside and investors who know how to keep score, Centre Court Capital is betting that India’s sports-tech revolution is just warming up. Advantage, India.
e-commerce
Instamart and Duolingo launch street spell check campaign for Instaprint
Duo the owl fixes signboard typos across cities to showcase instant printing.
MUMBAI: If spelling mistakes had a sworn enemy, it might just be a bright green owl with a printer. Instamart has teamed up with language learning platform Duolingo for a quirky nationwide campaign that turns everyday spelling errors into a public spectacle while promoting its instant printing service, InstaPrint. The playful activation takes aim at the many misspelled shop boards and public signs scattered across Indian streets. From “saloons” that promise haircuts rather than drinks to menus and posters peppered with punctuation mishaps, the campaign sends Duolingo’s mascot Duo on a mission to restore linguistic order.
Armed with Instamart’s instant printing feature, Duo prints corrected versions of the mistakes on the spot and pastes them over the originals. The result is a series of humorous street interventions that have quickly begun circulating on social media.
Photos and videos of the grammar correcting owl have been widely shared online, with amused users reacting to the unexpected spell check patrol. One user joked, “Ab ayega na maza bhidu,” capturing the internet’s delight at the unusual campaign.
Behind the humour lies a practical message. The activation is designed to showcase the capabilities of Instaprint, Instamart’s printing service that allows users to print documents and posters almost instantly.
The company says the feature is meant for everyday needs such as printing resumes, visa documents or last minute posters without the usual scramble to locate a print shop.
Instamart introduced Instaprint in 2025 across select metropolitan cities including Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi. The service allows users to order printed materials directly through the platform, extending the quick commerce model beyond groceries and household essentials.
By combining Duolingo’s famously persistent owl with India’s street level spelling quirks, the campaign taps into the internet’s long running fascination with grammar mistakes while demonstrating a real world use case for instant printing.
After all, in a world full of typos, sometimes what you really need is a quick printer and a very determined language teacher.
