Boston Celtics owner invests in electric car racing

Wycliffe "Wyc" Grousbeck, CEO of the NBA's Boston Celtics, listens as Yorihiko Kojima, chairman of the board of Mitsubishi Corporation, speaks at the Boston College Chief Executives' Club of Boston luncheon in Boston, Massachusetts September 25, 2013. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

LONDON (Reuters) - Boston Celtics basketball owner Wyc Grousbeck and his business partners have invested millions of dollars in the Formula E electric car racing series that will start next year, its organizers said on Friday. Grousbeck is making the investment through Causeway Media Partners, a fund he set up in May and which has been backed by a number of NFL and NBA team owners. Financial details were not disclosed but media reports said they were injecting $21 million into the project. "We believe Formula E is a great evolutionary step in motorsport and a way to entertain millions around the world while driving the development of the best possible electric vehicles," Grousbeck said in a statement. Formula E will stage its first race in Beijing next September and is planning a series of city centre races using battery-powered vehicles capable of speeds of 220 kph. Spaniards Enrique Banuelos and Alejandro Agag have committed about $100 million to develop the format. Grousbeck will join the board of Formula E as part of the agreement. (Writing by Keith Weir, editing by Pritha Sarkar)