Game, Set, Cash: How Tennis Australia raised a $50M venture fund while some VCs fight for survival

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In this first edition, I’ll break down how Tennis Australia is using its grand slam asset, the Australian Open, to build a robust balance sheet and improve grassroots tennis.

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Game, Set, Cash: How Tennis Australia Turned the Australian Open Into a Global SportsTech Laboratory

Over the past two weeks, over one million fans streamed into Melbourne Park to watch the 2025 Australian Open.

Behind the packed stands and prime-time matches, Tennis Australia is orchestrating something bigger: transforming their Grand Slam into the world's most valuable sports-tech testing ground.

While fans will be asking if Jannik Sinner can repeat his historic victory or if Novak can hit 25 grand slams, a different kind of game is playing in the background. I’m not talking about Tennis Australia using generative AI to get around broadcasting rights issues…

Instead, Tennis Australia has taken a page directly from the NFL, NBA, and MLB playbook by launching its own venture capital fund, Wildcard Ventures. 

Their unique advantage? Immediate access to those million-plus attendees, 10 million broadcast viewers in Australia alone, and a direct line to 1.5 million active tennis players nationwide.

Let me show you how they use that advantage to bet millions on innovation to improve the game.

From Line Calls to Big Calls: Tennis Australia's Tech Journey

Tennis has always been a first-mover in sports technology. Remember the revolution of Hawk-Eye? When it debuted at the 2006 US Open, it changed sports forever.

Tennis Australia didn't just follow—they pounced. By 2007, they were the second Grand Slam to adopt the technology. That early bet paid off well for early investors in the Hawk-Eye technology: Hawk-Eye was acquired by investors for £4.4M the same year, later purchased by Sony for an undisclosed sum, and now powers officiating across FIFA, MLB, NRL, and AFL. 

But Tennis Australia learned a crucial lesson: while they helped launch Hawk-Eye into the stratosphere, they didn't capture any of that upside. They weren't going to make that mistake again.

Advantage: Wildcard Ventures

Enter Wildcard Ventures, Tennis Australia's answer to the innovation game. But here's where things get interesting: rather than just writing checks, they're offering something most startups only dream of—a real-world laboratory during one of the sport's biggest events.

At the heart of their strategy is AO STARTUPS, a unique "try before you buy" program redefining how sports organisations invest. While most early-stage founders struggle to find beta testers for their products, Tennis Australia hands them a golden ticket: direct access to a global sporting event with built-in customers.

Startups can test their products during the Australian Open, gaining invaluable exposure and immediate feedback. Meanwhile, Wildcard Ventures gets a courtside seat to see how these innovations perform under pressure before committing capital. It's like test-driving a car before buying it—except this test drive happens in front of a audience of millions. 

This approach creates a triple advantage:

• First, founders can deploy their technology and get real-world feedback within days, not months.

• Second, if a product can handle the demands of a Grand Slam event, that's instant credibility with future investors and partners.

• Finally, these startups get access to Tennis Australia's extensive network of sponsors, media companies, and sports organisations—connections that typically take years to build.

The market likes it, too. Tennis Australia just announced they’ve had their first fund close. This fund is called AO Ventures. The ~AUD$50M fund has cash commitments from the family office of Tesla chair and Blackbird partner Robyn Denholm (Wollemi Capital Group) and the Gnanalingam family, who own the London football club Queens Park Rangers.

The Portfolio: Where Innovation Meets Implementation

Mr Yum: Revolutionizing Stadium Commerce

In a strategic push to enhance fan engagement and boost revenue, Tennis Australia combined their Melbourne Park renovations with a strategic investment in Mr Yum's online ordering platform in 2021.

The goal was simple but ambitious: streamline food and beverage ordering to keep fans on-site longer and make off-court festivities as attractive as the main tennis action. Mr Yum has recently merged with once-rival Me&u, and thousands of fans will be ordering food and beverages at the Aus Open via their platform this grand slam.

Samsara Eco: Turning Tennis Green

Tennis Australia's partnership with Samsara Eco in January 2022 marked a bold step toward environmental sustainability. The environmental tech company collected and recycled around 5,000 plastic water bottles from the Australian Open at its Canberra lab, utilising its groundbreaking enzyme technology to simultaneously process mixed plastics. Tennis Australia was a valuable early customer that allowed Samsara to test their process at scale in the lab before committing to a full recycling centre.

But they didn't stop there. Samsara also tackled a persistent industry challenge by developing a special recycling system for roughly 60,000 tennis ball tubes—previously a recycling nightmare. Tennis Australia doubled down on this partnership by investing in Samsara Eco through Wildcard Ventures, helping fund a full-scale recycling plant that opened in 2023. Since then, Samsara has landed $100M in a Series A+ round in June 2024 - a nice mark-up for Wildcard Ventures.

SwingVision: Democratizing Elite Training

When Tennis Australia looked to boost grassroots talent development, they found their answer in Silicon Valley. SwingVision, co-founded by a former Tesla engineer and a Berkeley data science professor, caught their eye with revolutionary AI video analysis technology.

The app uses on-device machine learning to track everything from ball trajectory to player posture—all from a single phone or tablet, no internet required. The partnership has already transformed Australian tennis: over 2,200 Australian coaches received free Pro subscriptions, and 2,500 SwingVision court mounts now dot tennis courts nationwide. The technology's impact was so significant it earned a coveted spot in an Apple keynote presentation, showcasing how Tennis Australia is helping democratise elite-level training.

Oho: Setting New Safety Standards

Tennis Australia's latest strategic partnership demonstrates its commitment to protecting the sport's future. Their five-year partnership with screening-tech startup Oho represents a comprehensive approach to safeguarding their 1.5 million players and 3,000 coaches.

The platform's "always-on" technology continuously monitors coach and staff accreditations—a critical innovation given studies showing significant rates of interpersonal violence in youth sports. As Oho CEO Liv Whitty notes, Tennis Australia is "setting a benchmark for the sporting community," ensuring safety without compromising the sport's accessibility and appeal.

How have these investments gone?

Acknowledging I don’t have complete access to information, I can take a stab at how these investments have gone.

Tennis Australia got involved in Samsara Eco very early. The partnership was announced in early 2022, and Samsara announced its $6M seed round in March of 2022. While not named in this round, Wildcard Ventures likely took a stake in the business here.

Samsara Eco has done well since then, with a $100 million Series A+ round in 2024, welcoming Temasek, Main Sequence and Woolworths Group via W23. Tennis Australia will be very happy with the markup for this investment.

Let’s look at Mr Yum.

It’s fair to say Mr Yum has had an interesting ride. The first mention of Tennis Australia investing in the business was via Wildcard Ventures in the $89M Series A in November 2021. Tiger Global led this round, and valuations were peaking at the height of the pandemic. At this stage, QR code ordering was buoyed up by the forcing function of the pandemic.

Since then, Mr Yum has had two layoffs in August 2022 and March 2023. In November 2023, the company merged with its direct local competitor, Me&U. This combined business did another round of layoffs in late 2024. Tennis Australia will probably see a return on this one; it just won’t shoot the lights out.

Now, let’s look at their feeder program, AO Startups and how it provides Tennis Australia deal flow and direct value for early-stage companies.

Clearly, Oho saw some alignment in getting involved in the “try before you buy” AO Startups program. Oho CEO, Liv Whitty said, "Given our presence and product fit in the sporting sector, Oho saw a natural alignment with the AO Startups program and the rare opportunity it offers to benefit from an industry-specific VC entity with international reach.

Whitty said, “Tennis Australia has already opened doors to key potential clients and investors."

From the perspective of a startup like Oho, it’s pretty clear that working with Tennis Australia can be the catalyst that kick-starts their business ~ Wildcard Ventures just needs to ensure they capture some of that upside by getting on the cap table.

The Bigger Picture

Tennis Australia isn't just hosting a tournament—it's strategically supporting an innovation ecosystem and building a robust balance sheet. Combining its massive reach (1.5M active players in Australia alone) with strategic investments creates a local playbook for how sports organisations can turn their events into profit-generating tech incubators.

The result? They're not just watching the future of sports technology unfold—they're investing in it, shaping it, and profiting from it.

In a time when some sporting codes in Australia are struggling financially, like the A-League and Netball Australia, it’s great to see Tennis Australia take a leading roll. Should these other codes get creative in ways to build their balance sheets?

Looking at local venture funds, recent reporting suggests that there could be a group of fund managers who are unable to raise their next fund. Capital Brief has the report here.

In a higher rates environment, it’s unsurprising to see LPs look to more strategic places to put their money.

With Tennis Australia’s VC fund, LP investors are making the bet that Wildcard and AO Ventures will be able to access better deals and make solid returns through the assets they bring to new startups.

Game, set, match... and cash in the bank. 

Well, that’s the first newsletter! I hope you enjoyed it. I plan to release these monthly, so make sure you subscribe to receive the next one. If you enjoyed the newsletter, it would be great if you shared it online or with someone via email!

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‘Til next time,

👋 Will