€12m · Other round · Sports · Munich, Germany
Munich-based PadelCity has received €12m in fresh capital from French leisure group Compagnie des Alpes (CDA), giving it funding to expand its network of padel centres over the following 18 months. The investment was part of a €20m transaction through which CDA acquired 33.9% of the company.
The €20m transaction comprised an €8m purchase of shares from existing shareholders and a €12m reserved capital increase. The latter is the funding amount received by PadelCity.
Scaling a court network is a property and operations problem
Founded in 2022, PadelCity builds and operates indoor and outdoor padel venues and also supports franchise partners. Its consumer proposition combines local courts with online booking, leagues, tournaments, coaching and community events. That makes expansion less like distributing a software product and more like repeating a venue playbook: securing suitable sites, building courts, filling off-peak capacity and maintaining a consistent customer experience across locations.
At the transaction date, CDA said PadelCity operated 24 centres in Germany, up from 17 at the end of 2025. The company planned to open 20 more by the end of 2026 and was targeting 350 courts, versus 117 at the end of 2025. CDA also projected that the network could reach €50m in annualised revenue by year-end. Those figures are targets, but they show why the capital increase matters: rapid physical expansion absorbs cash before new venues reach steady utilisation.
A staged route to European scale
The investor’s rationale extends beyond funding. CDA already owns UrbanPadel in France and Spain, while PadelCity was expanding from Germany into Austria and Poland. CDA said the two businesses would remain distinct brands but benefit from purchasing, technical and commercial synergies. PadelCity’s own announcement framed the combination as a larger platform for courts, events and partnerships across Europe.
The deal also creates a staged route to control. CDA received options to lift its stake to roughly 75% in early 2028 and to 100% at the end of 2030. That structure gives PadelCity capital and operating support now while tying further ownership changes to the execution of its rollout. For a venue-led business, the important test will be whether new centres can build local communities and recurring court utilisation quickly enough to justify the pace of openings.
