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
Amazon unveils first Trustworthy Shopping Experience Report
32,000 bad actors targeted, 15 million fake products removed in 2025.
MUMBAI: In a marketplace where trust is the real currency, Amazon is showing its receipts. Amazon has released its first-ever Trustworthy Shopping Experience Report, offering a detailed look at how it polices its vast digital shelves from counterfeit crackdowns to scam detection and review authenticity. At the heart of the report is a four-pronged strategy, proactive controls, risk anticipation, enforcement against bad actors, and consumer protection. The scale is staggering. Since 2020, Amazon’s Counterfeit Crimes Unit has pursued over 32,000 bad actors globally through litigation and criminal referrals spanning 14 countries.
The clean-up drive accelerated in 2025, with the company identifying and disposing of more than 15 million counterfeit products worldwide. Legal action also led to the takedown of over 100 websites linked to fake reviews and scams, an ongoing battle in the age of algorithmic manipulation.
Behind the scenes, artificial intelligence and machine learning are doing the heavy lifting. Amazon says it monitors billions of daily interactions across listings, reviews, and seller activity to spot trouble before it surfaces. Its predictive systems can even flag potentially infringing listings for trending products before brands raise the alarm.
Tools like Omniscan, which verifies product safety information at scale, and SENTRIX, designed to detect and eliminate phishing websites, are part of this expanding tech arsenal. Together, they aim to reduce risk while keeping the platform usable for legitimate sellers.
That balance between protection and friction is a tightrope Amazon acknowledges. Rohan Oommen, Vice President of Worldwide Customer and Partner Trust, noted that while safeguards are critical, they must not stifle genuine businesses. Features like the Account Health Dashboard are meant to give sellers clearer visibility into compliance and performance.
Consumer-facing measures are also getting sharper. From direct safety alerts to recall notifications and refund guidance, Amazon is leaning into transparency, backed by partnerships with consumer organisations to raise awareness.
The report’s release follows the expansion of Amazon’s Counterfeit Crimes Unit into India, signalling a deeper push into one of its fastest-growing markets, with closer coordination planned between brands, sellers, and law enforcement.
In short, as online shopping grows more complex, Amazon is betting that trust built through data, enforcement, and a fair bit of algorithmic vigilance will be its most valuable product yet.
