MLC raises USD 120 million funding from US Tech Giants Satya Nadella & Shantanu Narayen

In the latest development, Major Cricket League (MLC) has raised USD 120 million in funding from two Indian-origin tech giants- Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen.

MLC, the first-ever professional T20 League in the United States of America, announced on Thursday that it has completed an initial USD 44 million Series A and AI Fundraising Round.

The organizers also confirmed that an additional USD 76 million are in the pipeline, and they intend to deploy more than 120 million US dollars to launch the T20 league next year.

"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, the co-founders of the Major Cricket League.

"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," they further added.

Apart from Nadella and Narayen, the other investors include Madrona Venture Group Managing Director Soma Somasegar, Chairman of Infinite Computer Solutions Zyter Sanjay Govil, MD of Perot Jain Founding Partners at Milliways Ventures and Rocketship VC Anand Rajaraman etc.

Nadella, meanwhile, said that cricket was one of his "passions" during his formative years in India and that "playing cricket taught me more about working in teams and leadership that has stayed with me throughout my career."

MLC remains one of the most ambitious projects in the US cricket landscape. The organizers aim to attract top players from around the world besides providing a platform to the local, budding cricketers to showcase their talent.

The co-owners further confirmed that the USD 120 million would be used to develop local players and infrastructure facilities at the grassroots level.