The firm has completed its third successful funding round, raising £1.3m to help finance its expansion plans for padel, the tennis/squash hybrid game that is spreading rapidly across the UK, continental Europe and the rest of the world.

The latest equity raise valued Game4Padel at £10m, with the new capital going towards building up to 300 new courts within the next five years. Its two previous fundraising exercises – on inception in 2019 and then in March 2020 – were both heavily oversubscribed, raising a total of £1.25m.

The company is deploying capital so quickly, to meet the growing demand for padel courts from a range of UK partners, that it is already considering launching a fourth round of fundraising later this summer to ensure it can keep pace with demand.

Last month, Game4Padel signed heads of terms with Europe’s largest retail destination, Westfield London, to install and operate three covered outdoor courts and two pop-up show courts. Subject to planning, the three permanent courts are expected to open in January 2022. The first pop-up exhibition court will be installed in The Atrium, the spectacular centre of the mall, which had a weekly footfall of 750,000 people pre-Covid. This will create by far the largest live audience for padel ever seen in the UK - and possibly in the world.

In April, as the UK emerged from the latest lockdown, Game4Padel opened the first ever padel venue in Wales, at Windsor Penarth, a few miles south of Cardiff. The firm is also in detailed discussions with some 50 other sites – including major retail destinations, business parks, leisure centres as well as sports venues – which it anticipates will add more than 50 courts to the seven already in use at its five current UK venues.

In addition to former tennis world number one siblings Andy Murray and Jamie Murray, other celebrity padel devotees include Rafael Nadal, David Beckham, Lionel Messi, Maria Sharapova, Martina Hingis, Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola. There are currently 100 courts around Britain, but the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), which is the governing body for padel in the UK, has forecast 400% growth in the number of courts by 2023. Game4Padel already operates more padel venues than any other provider and plans to be the dominant player in the fastest growing sport in the country.

Padel is a form of tennis that is fun, easy to play, and sociable given that it is played with four players in a glass-enclosed court about one-third of the size of a tennis court. The rules are broadly similar to tennis – although players serve underhand, making it easier to play – and the walls are used as part of the game. It can be played in groups of mixed ages and abilities, as tactics and subtlety are as important as power.

Game4Padel’s Series-C investment round has further strengthened the firm’s investor base by introducing new backers to an already diverse and experienced group that includes company ambassadors and broadcasters Annabel Croft and Andrew Castle, the former British no.1 tennis players, and Jonathan Davies, the Welsh rugby legend.

The company’s chief executive is Michael Gradon, former P&O FTSE100 main board director and commercial/finance chair of the Wimbledon Championships, and its chairman is Jim McMahon, a founding partner of the investment business, West Coast Capital, and chairman of Motherwell FC.

Michael Gradon, co-founder and CEO of Game4Padel, said: “Padel is at a tipping point in the UK, in terms of participation and popularity, and we have an ambition to be a major part of that growth story over the next few years, using our knowledge and expertise to develop the best facilities in the best locations for the best overall user experience.

“We have a high degree of confidence that we can deploy all the equity raised in premium UK sites within the next 12 months. Our first four venues are already operating ahead of our financial projections, despite the lockdown restrictions of the last year, and we recently opened a trial court at the prestigious 4,000-member St George’s Hill Lawn Tennis Club in Surrey, which we hope will prove the case for three permanent courts to be built there.”

Jim McMahon, chairman of Game4Padel, added: “This is an incredibly exciting period for our company and for the game of padel in the UK. It’s not often a business can say with certainty that it is in the right place at the right time, but given the vast experience in our team, the growth potential of the sport, our investor and capital base and the huge demand we are experiencing, I feel confident in saying that now.”