In India, the passion for sports runs deep, with approximately 10 million aspiring and emerging athletes under the age of 19, and over 100,000 semi-professional and professional tournaments taking place annually. However, despite this vibrant ecosystem, a significant challenge persists the lack of access to the right tools and platforms for athletes to showcase their talent effectively. Recognizing this critical issue, SportVot has set out on a mission to democratize access to sports content and engagement by offering athletes a platform to showcase their skills and gain visibility on a national scale.
In a significant development for India’s sports ecosystem, SportVot has raised ₹9.4 Crore in a Pre-Series A funding round led by Omidyar Network India with participation from investors like Anicut Capital, StartupLynk, and Ventana Ventures, alongside continued support from existing backers such as Capital A, Ankur Capital, SucSEED Innovation Fund, and Marwah Sports.
Rohan Vyavaharkar, Director at Omidyar Network India, commented, “As an investment firm focused on the next half billion or NHB, we believe in the power of sport to create impact in this segment. SportVot is providing a platform for nurturing grassroots-level sports and democratizing the process of talent discovery, especially those with limited opportunities such as the NHB.
“Its cutting-edge technology that allows anyone to broadcast from anywhere using any internet-enabled device with a camera makes it uniquely placed to help create impact. We believe in Sidhhant, Shubhangi and Yash’s vision and that SportVot will play a pivotal role in helping transform significant aspects of the sports sector in India,” Vyavaharkar said.
Founded in 2019, the platform identified the pressing need to bridge the gap between talented athletes and opportunities for recognition and growth. SportVot’s innovative approach centres around leveraging technology to empower athletes and stakeholders within the sports ecosystem. By providing a comprehensive suite of online services, including live streaming of sports events and talent discovery functions, the platform’s partnerships with key players in various sports associations further help it reach and nurture talent at the grassroots level.
Through the capital infusion, SportVot aims to increase its efforts in creating opportunities for budding talents across India. By leveraging their technology and strategic partnerships, the platform aims to bridge the gap between aspiring athletes and opportunities for growth and recognition. SportVot’s partnerships with esteemed entities such as the Brahmaputra Volleyball League in Assam, the Maharashtra State Kabaddi Association, the Football Delhi Association, and the Nashik District Cricket Association showcase its commitment to fostering talent development at the grassroots level.
Sidhhant Agarwal, Co-Founder of SportVot, said, “We’re ready to scale new heights, over the past four years, we have enabled digitisation for over 100,000 games from more than 15 sports, we look to take this number to over 500,000 in India and globally. Our aim continues to be to bring unprecedented opportunities to emerging talents.
“We’re just getting started. This funding round opens up new avenues for us to innovate and scale our impact, bringing us closer to a future where every aspiring athlete has the chance to shine,” Sidhhant concluded.
However, SportVot’s vision extends beyond merely addressing the talent discovery challenge. The platform also aims to tap into the growing market for sports media revenue in the Asia Pacific region, which is estimated to reach up to USD 6.6 billion by 2024, with 40% of this revenue expected to be generated through OTT/digital channels, according to StartUp Talky.
By curating and monetizing local sports content, SportVot aims to create unique intellectual properties (IPs) and generate revenue from the fragmented sports economy in India. Through its platform, SportVot seeks to aggregate and showcase local sports content to a wider audience, thereby enhancing engagement and driving monetization opportunities for stakeholders across the sports value chain.
SportVot’s Co-founder Sidhhant Agarwal says, “We are thrilled to have the backing of such esteemed investors. With this substantial investment, we aim to expand our technology and product offerings, not just within India but also internationally. Our goal is to make sports and advanced sports technology accessible to the millions of athletes and sports organisations across across India and beyond”
SportVot: Transforming Sports in India
SportVot is a digital TV platform which is dedicated to showcasing local sports talent and emerging leagues across India. The start-up has redefined the broadcasting landscape by offering an economically viable and easily accessible platform for sports bodies to showcase their events online since traditional media platforms are financially constrained for both sports bodies and media houses, leaving almost 94% of the sports ecosystem uncovered.
“What we eventually see is that today if you want to be a fashion influencer, or if you are a brand, you’ve got Shopify, Instagram and many other resources. I don’t think sports professionals have something that is so accessible to them, what we see SportVot to be is to be a platform that gives access to opportunities, digital and physical. What I see in SportVot is that we can give the opportunity for visibility, a talent pathway.” Said Sidhhant, CEO of SportVot.
With its advanced technology and user-friendly interface, SportVot has changed the way sports content can be accessed, empowering local sports talent to show their skills while having the ability to connect with a network of scouts and coaches for potential opportunities.
The platform has a suite of services which includes live streaming of sports events, talent discovery functions, and interactive engagement features. By catering specifically to the needs of grassroots sports tournaments and emerging leagues, SportVot fills a critical gap in the market while nurturing the growth and development of Indian sports.
The Vision Behind SportVot’s Tech-Driven Talent Discovery Platform
In the heart of India, where cricket is a religion and passion for sports runs deep, three visionaries embarked on a journey to transform the landscape of local sports. SportVot is revolutionizing how local sports talent is discovered and showcased and is the brainchild of three passionate individuals: Sidhhant Agarwal, Shubhangi Gupta, and Yash Bhagwatkar.
The idea behind SportVot originated from Sidhhant and Yash’s shared passion for sports and their observations while working on cricket and football analytics. As they interacted with sports enthusiasts and athletes, they noticed a significant gap in sports coverage beyond the mainstream international leagues. Moreover, many new talents approached them to get their help in making cricket performance reports, showing the need for a platform that could cater to grassroots sports and provide opportunities for talent discovery and recognition.
“Most important part of entrepreneurship is maintaining a network, because that is your asset. Also, your core team is very crucial, and they should be your priority always,” Shubhangi Gupta, CMO SportVot.
This realization formed the foundation of SportVot’s core concept—to create a technology-driven platform that would help gain access to sports coverage and engagement for local and grassroots sports. The aim was to bridge the gap between talented athletes and opportunities for visibility, recognition, and advancement within the sports ecosystem. By leveraging technology and data, SportVot sought to enhance transparency in talent scouting and transform the way local tournaments were consumed, played, and perceived in India.
SportVot: Empowering Local Sports, Empowering India
Their story begins with a shared love for sports and a burning desire to make a difference. Sidhhant, with his eight years of experience in building software and technology products, had already tasted success with Thisgameweek, a fantasy gaming platform that captured the imaginations of sports enthusiasts in India and Africa. But Sidhhant’s entrepreneurial spirit yearned for something more, something that would help him blend his passion for sports with his expertise in technology.
In his journey, Sidhhant decided to partner with Yash, whose corporate experience at Accenture had helped him gain invaluable operational skills. Yash shared Sidhhant’s passion for sports and recognized the untapped potential in leveraging technology to empower local sports talent. Together, Sidhhant and Yash embarked on a journey to bridge the gap between talented athletes and opportunities for recognition and growth.
Completing the trio is Shubhangi who was a digital marketing executive with a flair for branding. With her experience in developing over 40 brands, Shubhangi brought a fresh perspective to the team. Her entrepreneurial ventures, EthKnits and Nite Owls, gave an insight into her commitment to innovation and creativity.
The Journey Behind SportVot
The start of SportVot can be traced back to the time when Sidhhant and Yash were involved in cricket and football analytics and had their own YouTube show, The Free Hit Project. As they interacted with sports enthusiasts and emerging talents, they recognized a glaring gap in local sports coverage and talent discovery. Their journey to revolutionize local sports discovery and engagement took a significant turn when they recognized the untapped potential of Kabaddi—an indigenous sport deeply ingrained in Indian culture.
“The base of fantasy sports is also data, data in the form of performance data, points. So, we used to build our own data sourcing engines, we had to source data. What we did was starting extracting data from commentary, giving our users good data insights such as top performers, what sort of teams a particular player does well against, etc. At one point, we had data worth at least 20 years, and I thought, let’s build something for the Indian Premier League, very much inspired by the movie Moneyball and its analytics driven model.” said Sidhhant.
They saw in Kabaddi not just a sport, but a powerful platform to showcase local talent and foster community engagement. Determined to elevate Kabaddi to the national stage, SportVot embarked on a groundbreaking initiative to stream thousands of Kabaddi matches on its platform. As the matches unfolded, SportVot meticulously profiled over 25,000 athletes, capturing their skills, strengths, and aspirations. This proactive approach to talent discovery breathed new life into the sport, offering aspiring athletes a platform to shine and be noticed. For many, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to showcase their talents and aspirations on a national stage.
With 12 franchises and approximately 500 players, SportVot’s Kabaddi league became a testament to the power of grassroots sports and the transformative impact of technology. Athletes who once played in local tournaments now found themselves at the centre of attention, with high-quality coverage, social media exposure, and financial incentives to fuel their dreams.
For some, the league was more than just a platform—it was a stepping stone to greater opportunities. A select few talented players caught the eye of professional Kabaddi teams in India, earning coveted trials and potential contracts—a dream come true for athletes who once toiled in obscurity.
As SportVot continues its journey, Sidhhant, Yash, and Shubhangi remain steadfast in their commitment to empowering India’s sporting community. Their vision for Kabaddi serves as a shining example of what is possible when passion, innovation, and opportunity converge—a testament to the transformative power of sports in building a brighter future for all.
“What we realised is that not only at the lower levels of sport, but even the higher levels of sport in India, there is a lot of scatter, and lack of data available. And if you go down the tiers, it’s even worse, it gets pretty bad. What we understood was that there has to be something that digitises this ecosystem, and something that gets people to use more tech-driven. Something that digitises the grassroots and lower level sports. That was the motivation. That’s something we wanted to build at SportVot.” Said Sidhhant.
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