It’s a billion-dollar market, the sports industry here in India. People are switching careers, colleges have started recognizing and including sports management in their programs, and other businesses have invested heavily to be part of it. We have seen many Indian sports start-ups emerge onto the scene in the last 10 years. And as we get to be part of witnessing this amazing transition of sports-as-a-job culture in India, ESM brings you a nice list of the top sports start-ups in India that have made a name for themselves.
Note – Our criteria is that the company must be incorporated earliest in 2011 and latest by 2018.
So without taking any more of your scrolling effort, here’s the list of Top Sports Start-Ups India
1. Ballebaazi –
Ballebaazi is a fantasy sports app launched in 2018 with a head office in New Delhi. Co-founded by Sourabh Chopra, Navkiran Singh and Puneet Dua, Ballebaazi offers personalized online gaming formats, multiple online leagues with various cash prizes on different levels as well as practice games on their apps. The sports start-up managed to generate a Series A funding of $5 million (Source – Crunchbase) in just the 3 years since they took off.
Website – www.ballebaazi.com
2) Cultfit –
Formerly known as Curefit, Cultfit operates through a fitness-based online platform where the company provides services based on physical fitness, mental wellness and nutrition delivered by industry professionals through its mobile application. Founded in 2015 by Rishabh Telang, Cult started out as a single centre till 2016, when the brand was acquired for $3 million by Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori. The top sports start-up is a venture capital-backed with approximate funding of $479.6 million according to Crunchbase with investors such as Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tata Digital, IDG Ventures etc.
Website – www.cult.fit
3) Hudle
Hudle is a platform that facilitates users to book from a curated list of sports venues and facilities through its app. Hudle connects sports enthusiasts with like-minded people who seek partners to play a particular sport of their choice. Suhail Narain and Arjun Singh Verma Co-founded the sports start-up in the year 2015.
Website – www.hudle.in
4) SportsApp
SportsApp facilitates sports enthusiasts to connect with each other, to find sports jobs, spread the word about events happening nearby and interact with senior professionals regarding any queries. The unique feature of SportsApp is that it allows individuals and teams to apply for endorsements and collaboration opportunities with brands that have signed up on the platform whilst also generating a unique market value for individual entities in terms of sponsorships. The Delhi-based start-up was founded in 2018 by Shashank Mishra and has received funding of $140,000 as of June 2021 according to Startup Talky.
Website – www.sportsapp.co.in
Also, check out our article on the Top 22 Sports Management Companies in India
5) Stancebeam
Stancebeam is a top sports start-up in sports tech which has come up with the innovation of the StanceBeam Striker. This device fits on a cricket bat and performs analysis of the batter through various verticals of statistics with session insights, bat swings, video analysis, speed and impact etc. Based out of Bangalore, Karnataka, StanceBeam was established in 2017 and co-founded by Amrinder Thind and Ishwinder Pal Singh.
Website – www.stancebeam.com
6) Zeven Sports
Incorporated in 2013, Zeven Sports Pvt Ltd was co-founded by tennis star Mahesh Bhupathi and business leader Hemchandra Zaveri with an office in Bangalore. The brand offers footwear, apparel and accessories across various sports including cricket, football, running etc. Zeven has been the kit maker for IPL franchises and continues to grow among the top sports start-ups in India.
Website – www.zevenworld.com
As sports start-ups in India are on the rise and as the market is supposed to get better post the lockdowns, this list will keep adding on and on. A lot of sports start-ups have already come up in the pandemic and we are excited to see how they grow in the future.
7) Sporjo
Sporjo is an emerging sports start-up with an aim of transforming people’s passion for sports into a viable career. With a vision to add top-notch talent to the sporting ecosystem, Sporjo has multiple programs like SPORSCORR, SPORCONSLT, and others. Individuals can pick a program based on their understanding and experience level.
Website – www.sporjo.com
Entrepreneurial culture is contagious, wishing the best to everyone who aspires to start something on their own.
Do let us know in the comments if you feel any start-up we may have missed deserves to be on the list (and meets our criteria mentioned above).