SURJ Sports Investment announces strategic onvestment in Professional Triathletes Organisation

Zawya

5 days ago

Investment to fuel PTO's global expansion and mass participation strategy, including planned growth in Saudi Arabia and the wider MENA region
Partnership reflects SURJ's commitment to building new platforms that empower athletes, inspire fans, and promote active lifestyles
Riyadh: SURJ Sports Investment has today announced its investment in the Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO) as part of the organisation's Series C funding round, alongside founding investor Sir Michael Moritz, Cordillera Investment Partners and Verance Capital.
The funding will support the PTO's continued international growth at both elite and mass participation levels, plus innovation in race formats and long-term athlete and fan engagement. It will also help accelerate the PTO's expansion into the MENA region, with Saudi Arabia a likely future host market for its flagship T100 Triathlon World Tour.
The partnership reflects Saudi Arabia's growing demand for inclusive, mass participation sport in line with the ambitions of Vision 2030. Between 2022 and 2024, national triathlon participation rose by 24%, supported by a 6,000% increase in viewership. In 2024 alone, six mass participation events were staged across the country, drawing thousands of new entrants and expanding access to sport for communities nationwide.
Globally, the partnership aligns with the broader push for gender equality in endurance sport. The T100 Tour features equal representation of male and female professional athletes and provides new competitive platforms designed to elevate women across the global triathlon landscape.
Danny Townsend, CEO of SURJ Sports Investment, said: 'The PTO is redefining endurance sport for modern audiences – blending elite racing with inclusive, mass participation formats, global storytelling and community engagement. We're proud to support this next phase of growth and to explore how the model can inspire more people across the region to get active. I saw the power of the platform first-hand at the 2024 finale in Dubai – and it's clear the T100 Tour is just getting started.'
SURJ Sports Investment was established in 2023 to develop a world-class sports sector in Saudi Arabia and beyond, through strategic investments in leading rights holders and high-growth enablers across the global sports ecosystem.
Sir Michael Moritz, who led the Series A round and has remained a key supporter through Series B and now Series C, continues to double down on the PTO's long-term potential. Speaking to media following the T100 World Championship Final in Dubai last year – the culmination of the Tour's first full season – he reflected on what drew him to the sport five years ago: 'The reason for my original investment was simple. I thought triathlon was a niche sport that, with a dose of creativity and imagination along with the explosion of online video channels, could be transformed into a compelling spectator sport and a much more attractive proposition for everyday participants. The excitement that has built around T100 demonstrates that we're well on the way to doing so.'
Today's announcement follows a $10 million investment from Cordillera Investment Partners in March 2025 and builds on previous rounds led by Divergent Investments, Warner Bros. Discovery, and health-focused venture fund Eckuity.
Sam Renouf, CEO of the PTO, added: 'We're delighted to welcome SURJ and Verance Capital to the PTO investor family. This is a major milestone not only for us as an organisation, but for the broader vision of triathlon's future. Our goal has always been to reimagine the sport for modern audiences and open up participation to athletes of all levels. With new partners like SURJ and Cordillera, we're better equipped than ever to scale our ambitions globally. The momentum from our record-breaking Singapore event is just the beginning of what we hope to achieve in 2025 and beyond.'
The Series C investment comes at a time of rapid growth for the PTO. In 2024, the organisation launched the T100 Triathlon World Tour, a reimagined endurance series featuring the world's top 20 male and female triathletes, competing alongside amateur athletes in major global cities including Singapore, San Francisco, London, Ibiza, Lake Las Vegas, and Dubai.
In 2025, the T100 Tour has expanded from seven to nine races. It returned to Singapore (5–6 April), where 7,000 amateur participants took part in a mix of triathlon and duathlon events — as well as an untimed 5km music run designed to attract first-time participants. Other races include San Francisco (31 May–1 June), Vancouver (13–15 June), London (9–10 August), France (30-31 August), Valencia (20 September), Wollongong (18 October), Dubai (15–16 November), and Qatar (12–13 December), which will host the first Qatar T100 Triathlon World Championship Final as part of a new five-year partnership with Visit Qatar.
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About Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO)
The PTO is a sports body that is co-owned by its professional athletes, seeking to elevate and grow the sport of triathlon and take it to the next level. Its T100 Triathlon World Tour was introduced in January 2024 and is designated by World Triathlon as the 'official World Championship for long distance triathlon', which is part of a 12-year strategic partnership with the sport's international governing body. The T100 Triathlon World Tour is a season-long schedule of World Championship level races competed over 100km (2km swim, 80km bike and 18km run), where the world's best triathletes go head-to-head in iconic locations on a global broadcast showing the races live around the world in 195+ territories, courtesy of the PTO's partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery as well as a range of other international, regional and local broadcasters. In 2025 these will include: Singapore (5-6 April), San Francisco (31 May-1 June), Vancouver (13-15 June), London (9-10 August), France (30-31 August), Valencia (20 September), Wollongong (18 October), Dubai (15-16 November) and Qatar (12-13 December) for the first Qatar T100 Triathlon World Championship Final. T100 weekends are 'festivals of multisport' and feature a range of opportunities for amateur athletes of all levels to get involved. From experienced amateurs tackling the 100km distance to first-time swim, bike and run participants taking on single discipline, untimed events. For more information visit www.t100triathlon.com
About SURJ Sports Investment
SURJ (/Surge/) Sports Investment, a PIF company, is fueling the growth of international sport through strategic investments with global and local resonance. Its mandate centers on investing in global rights holders and key enablers in the global sports ecosystem – investments that will generate long-term returns, empower sports and sports-adjacent businesses to innovate and reach new audiences and create new experiences. SURJ Sports Investment is unlocking game-changing opportunities, inspiring the next generation of talent and fans in Saudi Arabia, the wider MENA region and beyond.
For more about SURJ Sports Investment, visit www.surjsports.com