Bluestone Equity Partners Leads $55m Growth Round in Poolhouse

ClubSpot is doubling in size as it raises €750,000 High-profile angel investors are backing ClubSpot as the sports technology company targets €3 million in revenue over the next 12 months. Founder John Hyland explains to Tom Lyons why he believes the business is ready to expand internationally. David Moffitt Tom Lane 🔗 https://lnkd.in/dXj6Wphb

Delighted to see ClubSpot featured in The Currency today! 🗞️ Our CEO John Hyland spoke with Tom Lyons about our recent €750k funding round, expanding our team, and taking our platform into new international markets. Massive thanks to our team, our investors, and the sports clubs who back us every step of the way. Full piece linked below! 👇

KWP #TrendWatch – Revealed, new investment led by Bluestone Equity Partners has raised $55m in the #competitive_socializing venue concept Poolhouse – after opening their London flagship this year, the new investment will drive plans for New York, and Nashville sites – full report on venue launch in coming Entertainment Social Arena (#ESA)

CMS UK has advised Bluestone Equity Partners (Bluestone) on its role leading a $55m growth equity investment in Poolhouse, the technology-enabled cue sports company founded by Steve and Dave Jolliffe, the creators of Topgolf and Puttshack. Find out more: https://lnkd.in/eBG8rZzk The multidisciplinary CMS team was led by Nick Crosbie and included Christopher Han, Ahmad Akbar and Vienna Leung (Corporate); Joel Vertes, Lucinda Beasley and Andrew Smith (IP); and Stephen Hignett and Alexander Oldland (Tax). #CMSLaw #CMSCorporate

An investment group led by 'Shark Tank' investors and sports executives Rashaun Williams and Mark Cuban have bought a minority stake in the A's. Sources told me the fundraising specifics will remain private. https://lnkd.in/gUr2q4PP

Private equity is in the Yankees. It almost certainly doesn't mean big-money roster moves, though The New York Yankees just closed a $2.6B credit and equity deal with Apollo Sports Capital. The Steinbrenner family keeps full operational control, but Apollo gets a seat on the board More than buying a new starting rotation, it feels more about optimizing balance sheets, refinancing existing debt, and funding off-field ventures across media and real estate

The dog days of August might be nearly upon us but that is clearly no issue for the London market, which can still find significant equity capital and rapidly. Witness PH client Hammerson today, raising £190m via a 10% placing to help fund its acquisition of a 50% interest in Manchester Arndale. Significant over demand from mainstream and specialist real estate investors, for what is seen as an excellent acquisition. Congratulations to everyone involved - alongside the £100m raise by another PH client, Supermarket Income REIT, earlier this month, it is great to see front foot PLC activity as a counterpoint to the flood of take privates!

Poolhouse, the competitive socialising concept from Steve and Dave Jolliffe, the founders of Topgolf and World Golf Systems, which opened its debut site earlier this year in London, has raised $55m (£40.9m) to aid the global expansion of its proprietary technology platform, BillyQ, and the continued rollout of its venues. The new funding round was led by Bluestone Equity Partners. 👉 For the full version of this story and to read it first sign up to the Propel email newsletter for free: https://lnkd.in/eyy_THzR

Today's moat is brought to you by Superstat. They're doing computer vision for amateur sports with an initial focus on youth basketball. They've already broken into the US market. They skipped bespoke hardware to build an inhouse model that ingests phone video and outputs game analyses. The moat is the model they continue to improve and the warehouse of data their users are collecting for them. They raised $3.5M in pre-seed funding in July in a round led by Blackbird Ventures.

Axum Capital Partners, a Charlotte-based private equity firm, is acquiring controlling interest in BARCODE, the hydration brand backed by NBA All-Star Victor Wembanyama. https://lnkd.in/e-bZsUAZ