APEX, a Oeiras-based investment firm specialising in sports assets, has announced the launch of a new private equity fund targeting €300 million ($350 million) to back minority investments in European sports teams, leagues, and related businesses, with a focus on small to mid-size assets historically ignored by larger institutional investors.
The new fund will focus on acquiring stakes ranging from 20% to 49% in ventures with valuations between €51 million ($60 million) and €510 million ($600 million). With ticket sizes between €12.8 million ($15 million) and €42 million ($50 million), APEX aims to execute 10 to 20 deals over the next decade.
“I believe there is a real opportunity in teams, leagues, and assets that want to grow without giving up control,” says António Caçorino, founder and CEO of APEX.
APEX’s launch of a new fund comes against a 2025 European sports and SportsTech landscape in which funding rounds remain relatively modest.
Startups such as ReSpo.Vision (€4.2 million, Poland), ScorePlay (€12.5 million Series A), SponsWatch (€1 million Seed, Sweden), Sports Impact Technologies (€650k pre-Seed, Ireland), and Model Health (≈€800k, Belgium/US hybrid).
These startups have together totalled just over €19 million in disclosed 2025 capital.
EU-Startups has also covered APEX itself as an investor, noting its participation in aforementioned Model Health and ScorePlay, as well as Output Sports (€4.5 million), highlighting its established role in SportsTech venture investment.
Against this backdrop, APEX’s new fund represents a shift in scale and focus: rather than backing early-stage technology companies, it aims at minority or selective majority stakes in European sports teams and leagues.
The contrast between the sector’s early-stage funding levels and APEX’s €300 million vehicle underscores how the firm is positioning itself between startup-driven innovation and institutional-level ownership of sports assets, a space EU-Startups coverage suggests remains relatively open in 2025.
Founded in 2020, APEX initially built its track record through a €51 million ($60 million) venture capital fund launched three years ago. That fund has attracted over 100 professional athletes from 17 sports, including Formula 1 drivers Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz. In September, Red Bull’s investment arm also joined as an investor.
The firm’s past investments include stakes in Formula 1 team Alpine and Italian football club Venezia FC. However, with its previous deals capped at under 20% ownership, Caçorino says the firm is now looking for more meaningful influence and governance in its future targets.
“We feel that we can deploy even more,” Caçorino says. “But I think it’s always good to have your target a little bit below where your realistic pipeline is so you make sure that you’re really investing in the best deals.”
The firm is focusing heavily on the European market, which Caçorino sees as rich in untapped potential.
Compared to the highly commercialised US market, Europe’s smaller clubs and leagues often suffer from limited access to growth capital and structural obstacles. But according to APEX, these conditions also make them less volatile, with fewer regulatory risks and a lower overall cost of entry.
Beyond minority equity, the fund has allocated 15% of its capital for U.S.-based opportunities – possibly including a stake in an NBA franchise – and another 15% for outright buyouts. This would mark APEX’s first foray into controlling stakes, though Caçorino noted this would likely be restricted to smaller European properties in football or motorsport.
Caçorino believes APEX is strategically positioned between sellers of niche assets and large buyers who typically enter at scale. “There’s still a big disparity between people that will potentially sell and the bigger investors,” he says. “So that puts us in a beautiful sweet spot.”
Alongside its sports equity strategy, APEX sees synergies with its venture portfolio, which includes companies such as TMRW Sports (founded by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy), performance analytics firm Output, and AI media platform ScorePlay. This dual-pronged model may also allow the firm to experiment with cross-pollination between tech and team investments.
Looking forward, Caçorino hinted at ambitions beyond Europe, including Asia and South America, and is already laying plans for another venture fund next year.
“I think with sports generally, whoever’s been reading the news and just been in the sector and looking at the opportunities in the pipeline, the time is now,” Caçorino says. “We’re a five-year-old business, and the last five years have been critical for sports.”
Read the orginal article: https://www.eu-startups.com/2025/12/portugals-apex-shifts-from-startups-to-sports-teams-with-new-fund-targeting-e300-million/
