The problem that Indian start-up Sportido identified is simple, develop a way to help likeminded people find each other to play more sport and participate in sports that they enjoy.
Sportido is a social app that finds a person’s location and connects them with people nearby to play hundreds of sports. After people have found each other nearby, they can book courts, parks or gyms within the app.
Neeraj Aggarwala is the company’s CEO and co-founder (pictured below) and his company was a finalist at the University of Queensland’s HYPE Spin Lab.
His fellow co-founder and head of marketing Akriti Anand spoke to Bullpen about the genesis of Sportido and how they’ve completed their pilot run in New Delhi.
Bullpen: What inspired the development of the Sportido app?
Akriti Anand: “After Neeraj completed his masters in the UK, he moved back to India and wanted to continue playing squash, however he was unable to do so as he couldn’t find people to play squash with as none of his friends played it. That’s when the idea struck him.
“For us it’s the sheer scale of this opportunity and the inherent desire to create something truly novel and unique is what excites us.”
BP: Was there a problem that you were trying to solve?
AA: “Everyone wants to play sport. In fact as per our research, 82 per cent of the urban population wants to play sport. But, just one per cent of people in India actually end up playing and even the global average is just about 30 per cent.
“So why is it that so many people want to play, but so few actually end up playing? That is primarily because they either can’t find people or places to play their sport, at their time, and at their location.”
BP: What were the biggest challenge in testing the app and gathering data in New Delhi?
AA: “The biggest challenge that we faced, like any other marketplace or social network, was the chicken-and-egg problem. We needed to provide meaningful functionality to the early users, without having an existing base of players or facilities.”
BP: Have you trialled or expanded Sportido in other cities in India?
AA: “We haven’t trialled Sportido in any other city in India as yet, but the pain points we are addressing are relevant across India and even globally. Delhi itself is a large market with 15 million Facebook users, however we plan to venture into other cities post funding.”
BP: In Neeraj’s pitch he said Sportido has been downloaded 30,000 times, what were the key demographics of the people who were downloading the app?
AA: “Our core users are young, employed males between the ages of 21 to 40.”
BP: Sportido is seeking $1 million for further growth, to scale up to 1 million users and strengthen the product. What do you see as the biggest challenge going forward through the next year?
AA: “If our estimates are correct, we may have a situation where the demand that we generate exceeds supply. It’s a great problem to have, but we will have to work closely with our partners to optimise supply or even increase supply of facilities.
“Also, we are looking at solutions for minimising leakages.”
BP: Given the scale of the Indian domestic market, is the company planning to consolidate growth within India before expanding out of the country?
AA: “We are in conversation with a few interested parties that may help us expand internationally. However, our focus is towards catering to the Indian market currently.”