Sports365 bets big on the rise in fitness conscious consumers

With cricketer Yuvraj Singh, Bollywood actor Lara Dutta and international squash player Dipika Pallikal as its brand ambassadors, three-year-old sports and fitness products startup, Sports365 is eyeing growth. Tennis player Mahesh Bhupati is the director as well as brand ambassador of this this multi-channel sports goods firm. The venture reported a top line to Rs 14.5 crores in 2014-15 and aims to increase revenue to Rs 120 crores in the next three years.

G Chandra Sekhar Reddy, and Aashutosh Chaudhari set up Sports365 as they saw immense potential in this category, with a rise in sporting events such as IPL, Indian Super League (ISL), Hockey India League, Pro-Kabaddi. Both, IIM Lucknow graduates, decided to utilise their eight years of corporate experience to launch Sports365 in May 2012.

Initial funding of Rs 1 crore raised through family and friends, helped them set up the team, technology and operational back-up. The company managed to report revenue of Rs 4.6 crore in the 2012-13 fiscal year. The platform now offers over 35,000 products from more than 150 sports brands, across more than 50 sporting disciplines. Sports365 also sells through e-commerce companies such as Flipkart, Snapdeal, Amazon and Paytm.

It also has an offline presence to offer solutions around sports goods, merchandise, apparel and infrastructure to corporates, schools, sports clubs and training academies. The startup has 250 institutional customers that include leading schools, sports academies, professional sports teams from ISL and I-League and multinational companiesGoogle, Facebook, Amazon, NTT, Accenture, Wells Fargo, among others.

After raising Rs 7 crore in funding from US-based venture capital firm Powerhouse Ventures and IT services firm Zolon Tech in 2014, the company is further looking at the funding boost to scale-up business.