Ketan Makwana of new Inverness Caley Thistle majority shareholders Seventy7 Ventures says he was on the brink of giving up on his dream of investing in a football club
The leader of new Inverness Caledonian Thistle majority shareholders Seventy7 Ventures says he was on the brink of giving up on his dream of investing in a football club.
Ketan Makwana, a director of the company since it became incorporated in September 2021, had looked at investing in more than a handful of football clubs over the past few years.
The 47-year-old has confirmed on social media that discussions over investing in the Caley Jags began seven weeks ago – around three weeks after the club’s relegation to League One was confirmed.
• Related: Meet the new owner of Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Writing on LinkedIn, Makwana opened up about how difficult the process of investing in a football club has been, despite it being a long-term ambition of his.
“Those of you that know me and my quest to become a football club owner would know that this is something that I have been besotted with for the last three to four years,” he wrote.
“My ambition is to revolutionise the way football clubs are operated and increase sustainable revenues that get re-invested into the club for prosperity.
“I tried endlessly, club after club, trying to persuade the owners to align to my vision – but either they were too short-sighted or driven by the money.
“After six failed attempts, I decided it was time to give up the search. Just as I put down my adventure stick, Paul Nelson got in touch and told me to check out Inverness!
“I couldn’t find anything on this club, so I was going to drop the chase but then I thought ‘who would know something about anything’ and (I decided to) call my main man Laurie Pinto. Within hours I had a plethora of intel and was introduced to John Colquhoun.
“Within days I was speaking to Scot Gardiner and within weeks I was presenting my vision for entertainment, leisure and sports.
“Exactly seven weeks from starting a process, we achieved a result.”
Makwana also added thanks to his advisers and business partners, concluding with a message to Caley Thistle, the people of Inverness and Highland Council, saying: “Thank you for putting your trust in me. Now it’s my turn to show you what the power of innovation can do.”
