Manoj Badale is one of the top Asian stars in the UK tech scene, co-founding more than 15 businesses since 1998. However, the increased media attention on him is mainly derived from his involvement in the lucrative Indian Premier League, as lead owner of the Rajasthan Royals cricket team.
Earlier this year, Emerging Media IPL Limited (EMIPL), which is completely owned and controlled by Badale, has increased its shareholding to over 50 per cent in the IPL franchise, after successfully concluding an equity fundraise for this purpose.
“Investors are now recognising the value of sports franchises. EMIPL’s increased ownership of the franchise and expanded network of USbased, value-add investors presents an exciting opportunity to drive the growth of both Rajasthan Royals and the IPL,” Badale says.
Royals, the champions of IPL inaugural season, have for some time been on quest to expand their reach beyond the sub-continent and into new markets, opening an academy at Cobham in Surrey and looking to grow further in Britain. Badale has stated that he wants the T20 side to become ‘the UK’s IPL team’.
“We hope to achieve this through our talented and exciting English stars, (Ben) Stokes, Jofra (Archer) and (Jos) Buttler, our grassroots programmes and exclusive and engaging digital content. We are looking to increase our touchpoints with the UK cricketing community and hence support the growth of the game,” he says.
Born in Maharashtra, India, Badale grew up in the UK and studied economics at Cambridge University. Blenheim Chalcot, a leading digital venture builder which Badale co-founded with his business partner Charles Mindenhall, runs many of the businesses the duo have started.
Badale’s first venture with Mindenhall was netdecisions group, which has evolved into a broad-based IT services and outsourcing business now trading as Agilisys. While starting netdecisions, they co-founded a number of internet startups: the First Resort (now part of TUI), mad about wine (now part of Fosters), woowho (now part of match.com) and produxion.com (now part of EMAP).
The 53-year-old is involved in extensive charitable activities, prime among them is his role as the chair of the British Asian Trust, a charity founded by the Prince of Wales.
