Sporta’s bid to become the UK’s first authorised bank dedicated to sport has been boosted by a £5m cash injection from a London-based private equity house.

The Lazaroo-Hood Group, which also has a base in Jersey, will make the organisation Sporta’s largest shareholder, alongside the firm’s founders. The raise is a follow-on investment after earlier moves from the private equity group.

It follows on from a partnership announced earlier this year between Sporta and League One football club Stevenage.

Chief executive Andrew Smith said the “investment shows the confidence in Sporta’s mission and the seriousness of how we are building the business”.

He added: “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.”

Sporta making moves

Sporta is currently seeking a banking licence and authorisation to become the UK’s first fully authorised sports bank. It currently does not offer any banking services.

Ross Lazaroo-Hood said his firm led the earlier “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”. 

Last year the London-based private equity firm invested in 17 early-stage companies while this year is expanding ventures. In total they have, or will, invest around £15m across 2025 and 2026 across food, beverage and consumer goods; B2B software, fintechs like Sporta and media services.

“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,” Smith added.