Arlington, Va.-based Epic Padel Inc. has raised $4.5 million from investors including Abu Dhabi’s Kareem Anabtawi, as it aims to advance the racket sport of Mexican origin in North America with strategic investments.
Padel, also called padel tennis, is mostly played among pairs on an enclosed court slightly smaller than a doubles tennis court, and shares tennis’ scoring system and rules. However, it uses balls that contain less pressure than a tennis ball.
Inspired by Tennis
Epic Padel is led by Chief Operating Officer Tim Bainton, a native of England who came to George Mason University on a tennis scholarship. He received an MBA degree in Sports Industry Management from Georgetown University, and a bachelors degree in Economics from George Mason University. He is now a professor at Marymount University in the college of BILT.
“Living close to Wimbledon, tennis was just something I became interested in,” Bainton told Marymount University’s magazine. “I grew up in a place where we play cricket and rugby, but for some reason tennis stuck.”
Bainton also heads Blue Chip Sports Management, a Chantilly, Va.-based company he founded in 2009. The employee-owned company says it has generated over $100 million in customer revenue and serves over 90 sports, recreation, and entertainment facilities in North America.
Investing in Padel Startups
Epic Padel, which serves as a holding company, says it has the larger goal of becoming the largest operator of padel clubs in North America and the most active investor in the padel ecosystem. It invests in padel-related startups and funds, as well as incubates padel-related businesses.
Commercial Real Estate
MacKenzie Companies
Advertising / Media / Communications / Public Relations
Nevins & Associates
Financial Services / Investment Firms
Chesapeake Corporate Advisors
Commercial Real Estate
Monday Properties
Venture Capital
Blue Delta Capital Partners
Internet / Technology
Foxtrot Media
The company initially planned to open 250 padel courts across North America by the end of next year, but Bainton says it has been hit with significant permitting delays, according to Padel Business Magazine. Epic’s clubs are planned to be “hybrid” ones with between six and ten indoor or outdoor courts, developed within parking lots and parks. The company now projects that “at a bare minimum we’ll have 100 courts” open by the end of 2025. “We have a total of 12 that are slated to open by the middle of next year in various states, and we have LOIs on an additional 50 sites,” Bainton told the magazine.
According to The Padel State, an online publication, Epic Padel’s current investments include padel club concepts like Padel39, which will be opening soon in Austin, Texas, and “BOND Life Club, which was co-founded by Litquidity, and is bringing high-end racket and wellness clubs to New York City and Miami.”
The company has also invested in “modern, minimalistic racket and apparel company TWOTWO,” a celebrity-fueled international tournament known as the Hexagon Cup and the New York Atlantics franchise in the Pro Padel League, Padel State said.
