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For generating the popularity of cricket in the United States, prominent Indian-American business leaders have $120 million in funding to launch the first professional T20 league in the USA. These business leaders include Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen.
Along with Nadella, Soma Somasegar, the Managing Director of Madrona Venture Group, Anand Rajaraman and Venky Harinarayan, the Founding Partners at Milliways Ventures and Rocketship VC, and Sanjay Govil, the Founder and Chairman of Infinite Computer Solutions and CEO of Zyter etc, are the other investors in the project.
Major League Cricket (MLC) will be the first professional Twenty20 Cricket League in the U.S., which has completed an initial close of a $44 million Series A and A1 Fundraising Round led by a group of America’s leading business leaders. After the initial investment, an additional commitment of $76 million will be raised over the next 12 months as MLC plans to deploy more than $120 million to launch the country’s first-ever professional T20 league.
"The significant funding committed by an outstanding group of investors will allow Major League Cricket to build first-class facilities and accelerate the sport’s development across the country, bringing world-class professional cricket to the world’s largest sports market,” said Sameer Mehta and Vijay Srinivasan, co-founders, Major League Cricket.
“This investor group comprises leading business executives and successful tech entrepreneurs who have led some of the world’s most prominent companies. They bring tremendous experience and expertise in support of MLC’s plans to launch a transformative Twenty20 league and establish America as one of the world’s leading homes for international cricket events.”
The $120 million investment into MLC will be used for building premier cricket-specific stadium and training centres to develop a new generation of American cricketers. This investment will transform look to improve the professional cricketing landscape and create opportunities for the United States to host global events in the near future.
The Managing Director of Madrona Venture Group, Soma Somasegar also talked about MLC and said, “I share the vision Major League Cricket has for the launch of a world-class T20 cricket league and the potential for the United States to become one of the leading cricket nations in the world. I am delighted to be part of a dynamic group of investors who will help the sport reach that level through an unprecedented commitment of resources by MLC to developing the sport.”