These Companies Could Kick Off India’s Untapped Appetite For Sports And Fitness – Forbes

A raider of Dabang Delhi attempts to tag players of Bengal Warriors during the match between Dabang Delhi and Bengal Warriors in the Pro Kabaddi League in New Delhi. (Photo credit:Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images)

According to a leading sports scholar Boria Majumdar, Indian athletes who have achieved international success in any form of sports are exceptions and that it has little to do with the country’s sports program. India does not inherently possess a sporting culture. Despite a lack of sporting culture, there are numerous startups that are targeting the industry and are expected to make waves this year.

Sports Tech Startups

Athletto is a startup that offers information about sports facilities. It has photographs, coach information, prices, timings, contact details, ratings and reviews. For facility owners, this sports platform is a business app and dashboard to help the owner manage listing, booking, membership, coaching services and complete analytics solutions. The startup is helping sports and fitness centers owners to manage their facilities remotely from any part of the world. Last year, it was commemorated at the India Sports Awards organized by FICCI for outstanding effort to promote sports among the masses. Athletto has been selected by Facebook for its FbStart program, and successfully raised $40,000 from the social media giant.

Mobile Games

According to a FICCI-KPMG report the mobile gaming market in India will expand from $200 million in 2016 to $3 billion in 2019. While this sector is dominated by international players such as EA Sports, as more Indians come online, there is more demand for local content. To cater to mobile games, Nazara Technologies has partnered with Indian Cricket Team’s captain Virat Kohli to create cricket games that will be made available globally. ‘Virat Super Cricket’ is slated to be launched next month through Nazara’s partnership with London and Sydney-based mobile game developer Stick Sports.

According to Manish Agarwal, CEO of the largest publisher of mobile games in India, Nazara Technologies, soccer, baseball and football dominate in mobile sports games globally. But for India, cricket is the focus area and the company is looking at cricket as a growth opportunity. In 2016, Nazara had clocked 35 million visitors. It is looking to tap celebrity power and has plans to go public in 2018, by when it aims to achieve a target of $100 million in revenues.

eSports (Electronic Sports)