Sports marketing firm Baseline Ventures raises $1 million

Baseline Ventures crossed Rs100 crore in billing at the end of calendar year 2017. Photo: Hemant Mishra/Mint

New Delhi: Sports marketing firm Baseline Ventures, which represents P.V. Sindhu and Ravindra Jadeja, said it has raised $1 million in private placement from a high net worth individual (HNI) in Singapore. The company did not disclose details of the investor.

The company is valued at $25 million.

The celebrity management and brand licensing firm plans to use the fresh funds to further diversify into the fields of sponsorships and talent management, said Tuhin Mishra, managing director of Baseline. The company is also planning to launch a new sports league, added Mishra.

“While we have a very strong offering in popular sports like cricket and badminton, we have also made a conscious attempt to have a significant presence in more niche sports. We also represent billiards champion Pankaj Advani, and Arjun Maini, India’s only GP3 winner and Haas F1 development driver in Motor Sports,” said Mishra.

Baseline crossed Rs100 crore in billing at the end of calendar year 2017. The firm’s revenue was close to Rs55 crore at the end of 2015 and Rs70 crore by the end of 2016. The celebrity management firm, which also represents U-19 cricket captain Prithwi Shaw, grew its billing by almost 45 % on the back of clients like the Association of Professional Tennis (ATP) and the FIFA U-17 World Cup.

Baseline’s roster of talent also includes shuttler Kidambi Srikanth, cricketer Smriti Mandhana and actor Zaira Wasim.

Baseline’s client list includes beverage maker Pepsico, tyre manufacturer MRF, IT firm Infosys, handset manufacturer Nokia, tyre manufacturer Bridgestone, smartphone maker Xiaomi, Bank of Baroda and auto firm Hero Moto Corp, among others.

The company was instrumental in raising sponsorship money for the U-17 FIFA World Cup, roping in all six national supporters for the first-ever FIFA event in India. It works closely with the Chennai Super Kings, global tennis body, ATP and the Bear Gryll Survival Academy. It is also the exclusive licensee of the Liverpool Football Club in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

The firm was started at the end of 2014 by five industry professionals—Tuhin Mishra, Vipin Nair, Ramakrishnan R., Vishal Jaison and Raman Grover—with an investment of $3 million from a US venture capital firm.