(Changes pounds to euros after official correction)
LONDON (Reuters) -Electric powerboat racing's E1 World Championship is seeking 20 million euros ($23.55 million) of fresh capital to fund the growth of a series already backed by some of the biggest celebrities in sport and entertainment.
Team owners include actor Will Smith, tennis great Rafa Nadal, NBA superstar LeBron James, seven-times NFL Super Bowl champion Tom Brady, Indian cricketer Virat Kohli and former footballer Didier Drogba.
Chief executive Rodi Basso told reporters on Tuesday the series wanted to expand from nine to 12 teams and 15 races from a current seven, adding venues in Asia and South America, and have a 500 million euro valuation by 2030.
He was unable to provide a current valuation.
"We’re using Rothschild and Co. as an advisor and focal point. They have so far pitched our championship to, like, south of 50 family office VC (venture capital), all interested in sports," said Basso.
"We so far had 20 management pitches, of which I think five went already to the second round. The target is by the Monaco race, which is 19 July, we should have more clarity on who’s really interested."
Basso said the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), investors in Formula E, Extreme H and E1 as part of an Electric 360 project, wanted to maintain their holding but not increase it.
"They recognised if you get a strategic new stakeholder in the mix it could help the company to grow even better," he explained.
"There's a lot of interest from the U.S. and 75% of the leisure boating market is from the U.S. and we have Tom Brady, Will Smith, Marc Anthony, Steve Aoki and LeBron James. We need to expand and explode in the U.S.
"So if we have a strategic shareholder from there it will be very, very helpful."
E1 has a 25-year exclusive licence from powerboating’s global governing body, the Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM), and seeks to promote innovation in sustainable marine technology and coastal conservation.
Basso said the new investment would fund a second set of boats to be kept in Singapore or Miami to minimise freight between races and allow sustainable expansion in the Far East and Americas.
The RaceBird boats combine foil technology with advanced electric propulsion systems and can hit 93kph or 50 knots, with crews of male and female pilots.
Team owners pay two million euros initially, which they can recoup through sponsorship, and an operational fee with E1 providing and owning the boats in a "show up and race" format.
Teams run to between five and 10 people.
The boats will appear on London's River Thames for the first time on Wednesday in an early morning show run. The next race is in Monaco, followed by Lagos and then a finale in Miami.
($1 = 0.8493 euros)
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by...)
