Founded in 2012 and backed by tennis ace Mahesh Bhupathi, Sports365.in sells sports and fitness goods through its portal. It also has an offline play under which it supplies sports equipment and fitness products to schools, colleges and sports clubs. Live Sports 365 e-retail Pvt Ltd., which runs Sports365, had raised $1 million from Zolon Ventures and Powerhouse Ventures last year following which it has acquired Tennishub, a platform for tennis products.
“The sports online business in relation to the online business is very tiny, but it’s going to grow exponentially as sports has been growing last five years. We would like to become one port of call for anything sports related and that’s why tennishub acquisition is so important to us,†says Bhupathi who also runs Globosport, a sports management division.
In a conversation with VCCircle, the sixteen-time Grand Slam doubles and mixed doubles champion discusses the company's expansion plans, the launch of an e-shopping store that specialises in accessories and equipment for serious runners called runninghub.com and addition of platforms like cyclinghub.com for cycling enthusiasts and outdoorhub.com for outdoor games within the next few months.
“Everything has potential in India if you do it right. Who would have thought that Adidas, Nike or Puma would have running clubs in India?†asks Bhupathi, adding, “We have been taking baby steps. There is a 400-500 million population that we would like to target.â€
Commenting on the increasing trend of sportspersons turning entrepreneurs and investors, Bhupathi says that it’s his love for sports that has got him to invest in the business and that he would like to see Sports365 aggressively growing in the next five years.
