What 885 Capital does

885 Capital is a Dubai-headquartered, privately held investment firm founded and funded by entrepreneurs Sudeep Ramnani and Jai Mahtani. The firm pursues a founder-first, conviction-driven strategy targeting category-defining businesses across two core verticals: challenger sports formats and frontier technology. It deploys capital across the lifecycle, from early-stage venture rounds to controlling acquisitions of established sports assets, and supplements capital with strategic guidance, board participation, and network access to portfolio companies.

The portfolio spans sports leagues and clubs — including the largest global stake in the Professional Fighters League (PFL), Baller League (Germany/UK/US), European League of Football, and the acquired C.D. Leganés football club — alongside technology investments such as co-lead participation in Alaan's $48 million Series A, Science Corporation's $230 million Series C for the PRIMA brain-computer interface, Chowdeck's $9 million Series A, Syfe, Voyage Foods, and the tGBP stablecoin. The firm is led by founders Ramnani and Mahtani with Michael Schmidt as Chief Investment Officer and former Mediapro executives Martijn Bakx and Alex Rotter as Co-Heads of Sports. 885 Capital is self-funded by its founders, reports no revenue or AUM, and monetizes through equity appreciation and exits rather than management fees.

Name

885 Capital

Legal name

885 Capital

Website

https://www.885cap.com/

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

885 Capital is a Dubai-based, founder-backed private investment firm that deploys founder-first, conviction-driven capital into challenger sports leagues and frontier-technology companies across emerging and developed markets, taking minority venture stakes and controlling club positions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital and Private Equity

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940), All Other Financial Investment Activities (52399)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282), Investors, Nec (6799)

akta.pro primary industry

Sector-Focused Venture Capital (Vertical Specialists) (FSANAAAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Media, Entertainment & Gaming Growth Equity (FSANACAI)

Keywords

• Venture capital investing
• Private equity firm
• Sports league investment
• Founder-led startups
• Growth stage capital

Headquarters

HQ city

Dubai

HQ country

United Arab Emirates

HQ region

Middle East

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Investment Returns: 885 Capital generates returns through equity investments in portfolio companies across sports leagues (PFL, Baller League, C.D. Leganés, European League of Football), technology ventures (Alaan, Science Corp, Syfe, Voyage Foods, Chowdeck), and other assets. Returns are realized through equity appreciation, exits, and strategic value creation.
2. Portfolio Company Services: The firm provides strategic advisory, network access, and operational support to portfolio companies, helping them scale and achieve their growth objectives.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

885 Capital is a Dubai-headquartered private investment firm that deploys equity capital into founder-led businesses across challenger sports and frontier technology sectors. The firm provides capital alongside strategic guidance, network access, and operational support to portfolio companies and sports properties, holding significant stakes and board positions to drive long-term value creation. Its portfolio spans sports leagues and clubs (PFL, Baller League, European League of Football, C.D. Leganés), fintech and digital assets (Alaan, Syfe, tGBP), deeptech (Science Corporation), food technology (Voyage Foods), and consumer delivery (Chowdeck).

Product overview

885 Capital is a UAE-based investment firm focused on sports and technology sectors. The firm operates a diversified portfolio of investments spanning sports leagues (Baller League, Professional Fighters League), football clubs (C.D. Leganés), fintech platforms (Alaan, tGBP), deeptech (Science Corporation with its PRIMA brain-computer interface), food technology (Voyage Foods), wealth management (Syfe), and food delivery (Chowdeck). Rather than offering a unified product platform, 885 Capital functions as a venture investor providing funding, strategic support, and operational expertise to portfolio companies across emerging markets and innovative sectors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Baller League Digital-focused six-a-side soccer league combining traditional football with creator-led digital storytelling and new monetization formats; expanded across Germany, the UK, and the US.
• Professional Fighters League (PFL) Mixed martial arts league in which 885 Capital holds the largest global equity stake, pursuing global expansion through international regional leagues (PFL Africa, PFL Pacific, European) and broadcast deals.
• C.D. Leganés Madrid-based football club acquired by 885 Capital to support long-term ambitions and create sustainable value on and off the pitch.
• Alaan UAE-based AI-powered spend management platform providing corporate card solutions and automated expense consolidation for Middle Eastern businesses, serving finance teams at companies including G42, Careem, Tabby, and Lulu Group.
• Science Corporation Full-stack neural engineering company developing the PRIMA brain-computer interface retinal implant that restores vision in patients blinded by macular degeneration; raised $230 million Series C.
• Syfe Technology-driven wealth management platform providing digital investment services to consumers.
• Voyage Foods
• tGBP (Tokenised GBP) Fully-backed British pound stablecoin listed on Coinbase, recently becoming a top 10 non-USD stablecoin globally.
• Chowdeck Lagos-based food delivery startup that secured $9 million Series A funding, utilizing technology to provide local employment in Nigeria and Ghana.
• Strategic advisory and portfolio support

Quantifiable outcome

• Largest global shareholder in Professional Fighters League (PFL)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered key.

• Counder ConferencekeyGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2026885 Capital is a proud partner of the Counder network, participating in Counder Conference 2026 in Cape Town gathering 500 investors, family office principals, and business leaders from over 30 countries for structured discussions across sport, technology and emerging asset classes.
• Africa CollectivekeyStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026885 Capital is a co-creating partner of Africa Collective at World Economic Forum Davos 2026, alongside Afreximbank as Host Partner and AfCFTA Secretariat as Patronage Partner, with other partners including Novartis, Old Mutual, and Ventures Platform.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Arctos Sports Partners: Arctos is a private equity firm exclusively focused on investments across professional sports franchises, leagues, and tech-enabled sports businesses. It is the closest comparable to 885 Capital's sports-league and team investment strategy (PFL, ELF, Baller League, C.D. Leganés).
• Peak XV Partners: Peak XV (formerly Sequoia India/SEA) is a leading growth-stage VC with deep MENA and emerging-market presence, and led Alaan's $48M Series A in which 885 Capital was co-lead — making it a same-round comparable on emerging-market fintech deal flow.
• Founders Fund: Founders Fund is a founder-led US venture firm backing category-defining companies in frontier technology and transformative sectors. 885 Capital's frontier-tech bets (Science Corp, Alaan, Syfe, Voyage Foods) reflect a similar conviction-driven, founder-first investment philosophy.
• Patricof Co: Patricof Co is an athlete/founder-led venture and private equity firm explicitly focused on sports, media, consumer, and technology — making it a direct thematic comparable to 885 Capital's dual sports/tech mandate and founder-first ethos.
• Atomico: Atomico is a London-based venture firm founded by Skype's Niklas Zennström that invests in ambitious technology founders globally. It shares 885 Capital's founder-first, conviction-driven approach to backing category-leading tech and consumer ventures.

Broad incumbents

• CVC Capital Partners: CVC is one of the largest global private equity firms and a major sports-asset investor (Formula 1, La Liga, rugby, volleyball). Its sports franchise parallels 885 Capital's league-level ownership approach, though CVC operates at much larger fund scale and broader sector mandate.
• General Atlantic: General Atlantic is a global growth equity firm with a long track record of founder-led, sector-specialist investments spanning technology, fintech, sports, and emerging markets — analogous to 885 Capital's growth-stage, hands-on thesis at significantly larger fund scale.
• Insight Partners: Insight Partners is a leading global technology-focused growth investor backing software, fintech, and frontier tech at scale. Its participation-style growth investing parallels 885 Capital's position in growth-stage tech rounds (Alaan, Science Corp) at a much larger fund scale.
• Prosus Ventures: Prosus is a global technology investor with deep emerging-market exposure across food delivery, fintech, and edtech — directly comparable to 885 Capital's emerging-market sports/tech thesis and Chowdeck (food delivery) and Alaan (fintech) investments in particular.

Regional players

• Mubadala Capital: Mubadala is a UAE-headquartered sovereign-backed investment arm making direct growth and venture investments across tech, sports, and emerging markets. It operates from the same Dubai hub as 885 Capital with comparable cross-border investment scope.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/885cap

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments6 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about 885 Capital