SportsSkill Ladder Secures Lead Investment  from Current SportsSkill Investor Nirav Mody; Launches Beta Platform for Community-Driven Competitive Sports

SportsSkill has announced a lead investment from Mr Nirav Mody for its newly launched venture, SportsSkill Ladder, a technology-enabled community platform designed to bring structured, competitive sports to players across skill levels through an innovative ladder-based ranking system.

The investment marks Mr Mody's expanded commitment to the SportsSkill ecosystem. As one of the early investors in SportsSkill, Mr. Mody has significantly increased his stake to serve as Lead Investor in SportsSkill Ladder, a newly registered LLP focused on building scalable sports communities across multiple disciplines. His continued backing demonstrates strong confidence in the founding team's vision and execution capabilities.

Addressing a Growing Market Opportunity

India's sports ecosystem is witnessing unprecedented growth, with approximately 23% of the population—over 300 million people—actively participating in sports and fitness activities. The sports technology market is projected to reach ₹49,500 crore (USD 5.70 billion) by FY29, growing at a CAGR of 13%, while the broader sports and fitness goods market is expected to reach USD 3,851 million by 2033.

Despite this massive participation, community-level competitive sports remain largely unorganised. Government initiatives such as the National Sports Policy 2025 and the Khelo India programs have significantly boosted grassroots infrastructure and participation, allocating ₹3,794 crore for FY 2025-26 toward sports development. However, recreational athletes continue to struggle to find consistent competition, access transparent skill-based rankings, and track measurable progression—challenges that technology can uniquely address.

Racquet sports and team sports are experiencing significant growth across India, with tennis, badminton, table tennis, cricket, football, and emerging sports like pickleball gaining rapid traction in metro cities and tier-2 urban centres. The racquet sports equipment market in Asia-Pacific is forecast to grow at 8.52% CAGR, reflecting surging participation rates across multiple sports disciplines.

Technology-First Approach to Community-Driven Sports

SportsSkill Ladder leverages technology to solve longstanding challenges in recreational and competitive sports, such as inconsistent competition, opaque rankings, and difficulty building engaged sports communities. The platform's innovative ladder-based ranking system empowers players to:

• Create custom ladders for their society, recreational club, or friend groups
• Invite friends or teams to join and compete within structured formats
• Build and engage with verified competitive communities
• Track transparent, skill-based rankings across multiple sports
• Access organised match play and competition, all at their fingertips

The beta version of the SportsSkill Ladder platform is currently live on Android and iOS, enabling users to experience the product firsthand and explore how customizable ladders can transform their sports communities.

Investment to Drive Product Enhancement and Launch

The lead investment will be deployed to enhance the platform's features, refine the user experience, and prepare for the full product launch. Currently in beta, SportsSkill Ladder is focused on building a robust, scalable product that serves diverse sports communities across team, racquet, and individual competitive formats. The investment enables the team to strengthen the technology foundation before wider market rollout.

Leadership Perspectives

Commenting on the investment and launch, Chetan Desai, Co-founder, SportsSkill, said: “Community sports in India have immense participation but lack structured competitive frameworks. SportsSkill Ladder addresses this gap by enabling players to create their own ladders, build communities, and compete with transparent rankings—all accessible at their fingertips. Securing this investment from Nirav, who has both the business expertise and genuine passion for sports, gives us the resources and strategic guidance to build a world-class product. His continued confidence in our vision—having been one of our early investors and now serving as our Lead Investor—validates the community-building approach we're taking and strengthens our ability to deliver a platform that truly serves players' needs.”

Abhinav Sinha, Co-founder, SportsSkill, added: “We've built SportsSkill Ladder with a technology-first approach to solve real problems players face—finding consistent competition, building engaged communities, and accessing transparent skill-based rankings.  Nirav was very interested in this app feature and extremely excited about its potential to transform community sports. Our beta platform is already live and enabling users to create custom ladders for their societies, clubs, or friend groups, everything accessible in just a few taps. This investment accelerates our product development roadmap, enabling us to refine the platform and prepare for a strong market launch while maintaining the quality and user experience that competitive sports demand.”

Speaking on his investment decision, Mr Nirav Mody, Lead Investor, SportsSkill Ladder, commented: “Structured competitive ecosystems are essential for sustained sports participation. SportsSkill Ladder introduces a scalable and technology-led framework that enables players to build their own communities, compete consistently, and track transparent rankings. The platform addresses a genuine gap in how community sports are organized in India. As an early investor in SportsSkill, I've witnessed the team's commitment and execution capabilities firsthand. The beta product's innovative approach to custom ladders and community building gives me strong conviction in their ability to create a category-defining platform, which is why I've increased my investment to serve as Lead Investor for this venture.”