SPORTA, the business building dedicated financial and digital infrastructure for the sports economy, has completed a £5 million follow-on investment from the Lazaroo-Hood Group.
The investment from the family office sees Lazaroo-Hood Group become SPORTA’s largest shareholder, alongside the company’s founders, strengthening its position as founding lead investor and long-term strategic partner, while also joining the SPORTA Group’s board.
The funding will support SPORTA’s next phase of growth as the business continues to build the team, technology, partnerships and operating foundations behind its ambition to become the UK’s first fully authorised bank dedicated to sport, subject to regulatory approval.
SPORTA has also strengthened its senior leadership and delivery team with a series of appointments across risk, finance, technology, growth and operations. Appointments include:
David Wishart as Chief Risk Officer
Indi Chahal as Chief Information Officer
Mark Hodgkisson as Chief Financial Officer
Jess Blakey as Chief Commercial and Marketing Officer
Fanoula Grekos as Head of Operations
Adrian Moreno as Head of Engineering
Appointments to roles that will require regulatory approval are subject to that approval as part of SPORTA’s application for authorisation. Together, the investment and senior appointments mark an important stage in SPORTA’s development as it builds the infrastructure required to support clubs, athletes, fans, families and grassroots sporting organisations more effectively.
SPORTA CEO and founder Andrew Smith said:
“Sport has always had its own economy, its own pressures and its own way of bringing people together. But it has not always had financial infrastructure designed around those realities.
“This investment shows the confidence in SPORTA’s mission and the seriousness of how we are building the business. We’re putting the right people, technology, governance and operating foundations in place from the outset because that's what building a bank properly demands.
“Lazaroo-Hood Group has been with us from the beginning as a founding lead investor and long-term partner. Their continued support gives us the platform to keep building SPORTA in the right way, with the ambition of creating the financial home for sport.”
Ross Lazaroo-Hood, CEO and founder of the Lazaroo-Hood Group, said:
“We are pleased to complete this further investment in SPORTA and deepen our role as a long-term partner to the business.
“The Lazaroo-Hood Group led SPORTA’s seed round in 2025 because we believed the team had the experience and ambition to build something genuinely new for sport. Backing our portfolio companies for the long term is central to how our family office works, and SPORTA has the potential to create generational change for sport and the people who support it.
I am personally delighted that the team have attracted some great new additional partners and financing for the next stage in Sporta’s journey. It’s been a pleasure to work with Sporta’s CEO Andrew Smith and the whole team during this raise and for the Lazaroo-Hood Group to again lead in this round of investment”
