PlayReplay raised $12 million to scale its AI-powered smart court technology beyond elite tennis into clubs and training facilities worldwide. The Middle East is a primary expansion target with Saudi Arabia the UAE Qatar and Egypt all named in the rollout plan.
Tennis has long operated with a technological divide that the sport has been slow to close. Electronic line calling, real-time ball tracking, and performance analytics have been standard fixtures at Grand Slams and ATP elite events for years, but the club player in Riyadh or the junior tournament in Dubai has had none of it. PlayReplay, a Stockholm-based AI-powered smart court system for racket sports, raised $12 million to change that equation, with the Middle East identified as a primary expansion target alongside continued global rollout.
The round was led by Swedish investment firm Alfvén and Didrikson, with participation from Centre Court Capital, ExM Investment Partners, Charbe Partners, Crimson Sports Capital, and a fund managed by LionTree. The investor mix spans sports-focused capital across Sweden, India, and the United States, reflecting both the global commercial potential of court technology and the growing conviction among specialist funds that AI officiating infrastructure is moving from a professional niche into a mass-market product category.
PlayReplay builds electronic line calling systems that use real-time data to make officiating decisions on court, alongside training and analytics tools that give players and coaches access to precise performance data, ball movement patterns, and match statistics. The technology was previously available only to major tournaments and top professional events. PlayReplay's model is to deploy the same infrastructure at club level, training facilities, junior tournaments, and college competitions, making what was once exclusive accessible to any venue willing to install it. The company is currently the only tracking solution to hold a silver rating from the International Tennis Federation for electronic line calling technologies for both indoor and outdoor use, a certification that has been central to its commercial credibility with clubs and sports federations.
The traction behind this raise is concrete. PlayReplay's systems have been used in approximately 350,000 matches to date, generating nearly 150 million recorded line calls. CEO Hans Lundstam noted that the presence of the system on court changes behavior beyond the calls it actually makes, reducing disputes on all calls because players know the technology is watching. Måns Alfvén of Alfvén and Didrikson described PlayReplay as one of the fastest-growing companies in the fund's portfolio, operating in a market that includes over 250,000 courts in the United States alone. Chief Product Officer Mattias Hankvist signaled that expansion into other racket sports, including pickleball, is part of the next phase.
The Middle East component of the expansion plan is specific and structured. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, and Egypt are the named target markets, and PlayReplay has partnered with Söderhub as its regional operator to develop investment opportunities and build relationships with local sports institutions and federations. Magdy Shehata, founder and CEO of Söderhub, pointed to the accelerating investment in modern sports infrastructure across the Gulf as the core rationale, noting that the technology has already proven itself in demanding North American markets and is now ready for the regional opportunity those investments are creating.
The timing is well-chosen. Saudi Arabia has committed billions to sports infrastructure under Vision 2030, with tennis facilities expanding alongside the Kingdom's broader ambition to host and develop elite sport across multiple disciplines. The UAE hosts ATP and WTA events and has been building its tennis footprint for over a decade. Qatar's sports investment trajectory is equally clear. For a company that sells court-level AI officiating infrastructure, the Gulf's current sports development cycle is the most commercially attractive environment it could be entering at this stage of its growth.
