SportsSkill: How It's Revolutionizing the Sports Ecosystem with Performance Tracking and Progress Monitoring

The global sports technology market is projected to reach USD 53.1 billion by 2030. Within this industry, a new entrant making its mark is SportsSkill. Co-founded by Abhinav Sinha and Chetan Desai, SportsSkill is bridging a key gap in the sports ecosystem. The company provides a tech-driven platform that gives real-time performance insights for athletes, coaches, and parents.

In this article, explore more about SportsSkill, its founders, business model, funding, challenges, growth, and more.

SportsSkill - Company Highlights

SportsSkill - About
SportsSkill - Industry
SportsSkill - Founders
SportsSkill - Startup Story
SportsSkill - Mission and Vision
SportsSkill - Name and Logo
SportsSkill - Products/Services
SportsSkill - Business and Revenue Model
SportsSkill - Launching Company Strategies
SportsSkill - Customer Growth and Retention Strategies
SportsSkill - Challenges Faced
SportsSkill - Funding
SportsSkill - Growth
SportsSkill - Future Plans

SportsSkill - About

Founded in 2021 by Abhinav Sinha and Chetan Desai, SportsSkill is a tech-driven platform designed to bridge the gap in the sports ecosystem. With decades of experience in squash and tennis, the founders recognized the need for a structured way to track and analyze sports performance. SportsSkill connects athletes, coaches, and parents, offering actionable insights on performance, fitness, nutrition, and mental well-being.

SportsSkill is designed as a B2B2C platform, ensuring seamless operation for schools, academies, and parents. It’s not just about athletes—it’s about the entire ecosystem.

The company has received an overwhelming response since its inception. Recently, in rural Maharashtra, they supported a young squash player who has since risen to become one of the top players in India, reinforcing the motivation behind starting the company.

SportsSkill - Industry

SportsSkill operates within the rapidly expanding sports technology industry, encompassing innovations to enhance athletic performance, coaching, and fan engagement. As of 2024, the global sports technology market is valued at approximately USD 16.8 billion. It is projected to reach USD 53.1 billion by 2030, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.1% during 2024–2030.

SportsSkill's target market includes athletes, coaches, educational institutions, and sports academies seeking data-driven tools to improve performance and training methodologies. It aims to capture a significant portion of this burgeoning sector by focusing on user acquisition and engagement metrics.

Over the next five years, the team at SportsSkill anticipates the sports technology industry will experience substantial growth, driven by advancements in artificial intelligence, wearable technology, and data analytics. These innovations are expected to become integral to training regimens, injury prevention, and fan interaction, leading to widespread adoption across various sports disciplines.

In alignment with these industry trends, SportsSkill envisions becoming a global leader in sports technology within the next 5–10 years. Its strategic plans include expanding its user base to 5 million across regions such as MENA, the USA, and Europe.

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SportsSkill - Founders

SportsSkill was founded by Abhinav Sinha and Chetan Desai, who shared common interests and met a couple of times in events and tournaments. Their shared passion for sports was the foundation of this partnership. Both of them have been deeply involved in sports for decades—Chetan has over 55 years of experience in tennis, and Abhinav has more than 20 years of experience in squash. Their professional journeys gave them firsthand insight into the gaps in the sports ecosystem, particularly the lack of accessible, data-driven training tools. These shared observations naturally led them to collaborate and start SportsSkill.

Chetan brings his vast experience in sports and a deep understanding of grassroots challenges. His ability to connect with players and coaches on a fundamental level has been instrumental in shaping the platform. Chetan oversees the sports ecosystem side of the business, focusing on understanding the needs of coaches, athletes, and institutions. He works closely on user engagement and product validation. 

Abhinav's background complements Chetan's background, focusing on operational strategy and product development to ensure the platform delivers measurable impact. He focuses on technology, operations, and scaling the business.

Together, they drive the strategic direction of the company. They are a small but dedicated team headquartered in Pune. Their passion for sports, innovation, and collaborative approach, along with their focus on the grassroots level, helps them ensure every team member is aligned with their mission to democratize sports technology.

They prioritize hiring individuals who are not only skilled but also share a passion for sports and technology. Their mindset is simple: hire for attitude and train for skills. Whether it’s developers for their tech platform or community managers working directly with grassroots players, they look for people who understand the transformative power of sports.

Advisors and Mentors

SportsSkill benefits from the mentorship and advisory support of KP Balaraj, a seasoned professional with extensive private equity experience and a national-level athlete background. His dual expertise in finance and sports provides invaluable insights, guiding the company's strategic direction and growth initiatives. His involvement underscores SportsSkill's credibility and potential within the sports technology sector.

SportsSkill - Startup Story

Abhinav Sinha and Chetan Desai have been lifelong athletes—Chetan has over 55 years of experience in tennis, and Abhinav has more than 20 years of experience in squash. Through their experiences, they realized a stark gap in the sports ecosystem. While there’s a structured system for tracking academic performance in schools, sports lack a similar framework. Players, parents, and even coaches didn’t have access to meaningful, data-driven insights to guide their journey. That’s when the idea struck: Why not create a platform that bridges this gap and democratizes sports technology?

The ideation process was deeply rooted in Abhinav and Chetan's experiences and observations in India and abroad. They identified the key pain points—lack of performance tracking, insufficient fitness, mental well-being integration, and limited tech adoption in grassroots sports. To validate the idea, they contacted coaches, academies, and parents to understand their challenges. The response was overwhelmingly positive; they were excited about a holistic platform to track an athlete’s progress.

Prototyping began with a simple framework for SportsSkill. They focused on making the system intuitive and accessible, especially for grassroots players. During this time, they spoke extensively with academies in Pune and Hyderabad and experienced professionals like KP Balaraj, a national-level athlete, who eventually became one of SportsSkill's key investors. Their feedback validated the concept and gave the co-founders confidence to move forward.

The initial reactions from those Abhinav and Chetan spoke to were encouraging but also instructive. Many pointed out the need for affordability and seamless integration into existing systems. These insights shaped their approach, ensuring SportsSkill was impactful and accessible to athletes across all levels. The journey from ideation to prototyping has been enriching, and their support and feedback have propelled them to where they are today.

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SportsSkill - Mission and Vision

SportsSkill's vision, both in the short and long term, is deeply rooted in the commitment to democratizing sports technology. The aim is to make it accessible to every athlete, coach, and institution, regardless of their level or location. This long-term commitment is a testament to the belief in the transformative power of sports technology.

In the short term, by 2025, the company aims to deepen its impact in India and expand into global markets like MENA, the USA, and Europe. This involves scaling the platform, enhancing features like matchplay analysis and performance tracking using big data, and developing products tailored specifically for schools to integrate sports tech into educational systems.

In the long term, by 2027-28, the team envisions a world where every athlete, whether in a metro city or a remote village, can access advanced training tools, data-driven insights, and personalized coaching. This vision guides their long-term strategy and underscores their commitment to leveling the playing field for talent everywhere.

At the core of running SportsSkill is a deep belief that sports should be more than just an extracurricular activity—a discipline that shapes lives. SportsSkill's motto, 'Believe to Achieve,' reflects this ethos. It’s not just about training harder; it’s about providing the right tools and insights to empower athletes to unlock their full potential while building a supportive environment for parents, coaches, and schools to nurture this journey.

SportsSkill - Name and Logo

The name SportsSkill was born from the idea of celebrating the diverse and dynamic nature of sports. Every sport demands a unique combination of skills—be it physical, mental, or strategic. From an athlete's strength and agility to a player's precision and focus, skills are the building blocks of excellence in sports.

By combining the words sports and skill, the co-founders created a name that reflects their mission: to highlight the importance of developing, mastering, and celebrating these abilities. It’s simple, memorable, and universal—resonating with athletes, coaches, and enthusiasts alike.

At its heart, SportsSkill represents more than just the act of playing; it symbolizes growth, discipline, and the relentless pursuit of improvement. It’s a name that encapsulates the spirit of sports and the skills that make them extraordinary.

SportsSkill - Products/Services

SportsSkill is a sports technology company that bridges the gap between athletes, coaches, parents, and institutions by providing data-driven tools to enhance performance and overall development in sports. Coaches, parents, and athletes can access performance metrics, track progress over time, and receive actionable recommendations for improvement. The platform also gamifies training with features like SkillCoins to motivate and keep athletes engaged. By integrating elements like fitness, nutrition, mental well-being, and technical skills, SportsSkill offers a 360-degree approach to sports training. Over the next few years, SportsSkill looks to integrate more AI, machine learning, and relevant sensor technology.

A major gap is the need for more structured data and performance insights in grassroots and amateur sports. Athletes often train in silos without actionable feedback, and parents and coaches struggle to track development. SportsSkill resolves this by centralizing data and providing real-time feedback, enabling smarter training and better talent nurturing. Additionally, it fosters a social environment that promotes knowledge sharing and inspiration through videos and resources tailored for athletes.

Unique Selling Proposition (USP):

• Holistic Data Integration: Combines data from various sources—like human intelligence, AI, wearables, sensors, and used inputs—into one intuitive dashboard.
• Affordability and Accessibility: Low-cost subscription plans make it feasible for grassroots players and schools.
• Personalization: AI-driven insights tailor training to individual needs, addressing everything from skill improvement to injury prevention.
• Gamification: Rewards athletes with SkillCoins, encouraging engagement and motivation.
• Scalable Ecosystem: A B2B2C model connects athletes, schools, academies, and parents, making it suitable for grassroots and professional environments.

Innovation

• Technology: Going forward, SportsSkill will employ more AI and machine learning to analyze and interpret data. The platform is designed to integrate seamlessly with emerging tech like smart bands and sensor-equipped gear. The system processes data from multiple sources to provide meaningful, actionable user insights. Big data analytics is also key, enabling predictive insights and long-term tracking. Alongside SportsSkill, they operate Chance2Sports, a nonprofit initiative to identify and nurture talent from underserved regions. This program connects seamlessly with SportsSkill by scouting young talent, providing tools and training, and helping them secure sponsorships.

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SportsSkill - Business and Revenue Model

SportsSkill operates on a B2B2C business model, catering to athletes, coaches, schools, and sports academies. The platform integrates seamlessly into existing sports ecosystems to deliver personalized training, performance tracking, and data-driven insights. SportsSkill provides a unified platform for tracking and improving athletic performance. The platform is subscription-based, designed to be affordable and accessible to grassroots players, schools, and institutions. This ensures scalability while keeping the barrier to entry low for users from diverse economic backgrounds.

Revenue Model

• Subscription Plans: The core revenue stream comes from low-cost subscriptions, making the platform accessible to users across different demographics.
• Institution Partnerships: Revenue is also generated through collaborations with sports academies, schools, and organizations that adopt SportsSkill's technology for their training programs.
• International Strategic Partnerships: This is another source of revenue generation for SportsSkill.
• Premium Features: These will soon be available, which will be revenue-generating. 

SportsSkill - Launching Company Strategies

Before launching, Abhinav and Chetan validated the POC with several people across all capacities, from the sports angle with established coaches/academies and sportspersons across different sports to established individuals in the corporate sector who viewed the POC from a business and revenue/scalable model. This helped them get the first 100 users as well.

SportsSkill - Customer Growth and Retention Strategies

At SportsSkill, the team is thrilled to see significant traction within a short time. Guided by the belief that "Customer is King," they actively engage with the users, gathering their valuable feedback to ensure they evolve in tandem with the ever-growing demands of the sports community.

To enhance user engagement and create a dynamic experience, they have incorporated features designed to keep players motivated and immersed:

• Skill Coins: A rewarding system that gamifies skill development, incentivizing consistent practice and achievements.
• Challenge Feature: A platform for players to test their abilities, compete with others, and push their limits.

These sticky features are more than just tools—they reflect SportsSkill's commitment to building an ecosystem that serves, excites, and empowers the users. As the company grows, the focus remains on innovation, customer satisfaction, and fostering a vibrant community of sports enthusiasts.

SportsSkill - Challenges Faced

One of the major challenges the co-founders faced early on was convincing investors and stakeholders about the potential of sports technology. Integrating tech into grassroots and amateur sports was still relatively niche when they started. They met over 50 investors initially, many of whom didn’t fully understand the space or its growth potential. This made fundraising particularly challenging. However, when Abhinav and Chetan connected with KP Balaraj, his dual private equity and sports expertise validated their vision. His insights and eventual investment boosted their confidence and lent credibility to their efforts.

Another significant challenge was building trust among grassroots players, coaches, and parents unfamiliar with tech-driven training tools. To address this, they focused on creating a simple, user-friendly platform and kept subscription costs low to ensure accessibility. All these efforts were validated when schools and academies across Pune, Hyderabad, and Indore embraced the platform.

Experimentation and learning have been integral to SportsSkill's journey. For example, they introduced gamification through SkillCoins to encourage engagement among athletes. This worked well, keeping players motivated and involved. On the other hand, while they initially envisioned a broader geographic expansion, they soon realized the importance of focusing on a few cities first to establish a strong foundation before scaling further.

Current challenges include scaling the platform, maintaining affordability, and addressing diverse user needs. The sports tech industry in India is still maturing, and while they see growing interest, integrating advanced tools like wearables and AI remains a work in progress. Additionally, ensuring seamless adoption in rural areas requires consistent training and awareness-building among coaches and parents. SportsSkill's focus remains on solving these issues through innovation and strategic partnerships.

SportsSkill - Funding

SportsSkill raised funding from KP Balaraj, a seasoned investor with experience in private equity and sports. While the specific amount, stage, or valuation was not mentioned, this investment played a critical role in validating the company's vision and scaling its operations.

The funding has enabled SportsSkill to refine its platform, expand operations to cities like Hyderabad, Baroda, Pune, Indore, and Kolkata, and enhance its grassroots programs such as Chance2Sports. It also provided the resources to build affordable and accessible sports technology tailored to schools and academies.

SportsSkill - Growth

SportsSkill is growing steadily, expanding its reach, building partnerships, and offering innovative solutions to transform sports training in India. Its growth can be better understood through the following points:

Operating Locations:

SportsSkill is headquartered in Pune, Maharashtra, and has established operations in cities like Hyderabad, Baroda, Indore, and Kolkata, with plans to expand further.

Userbase and Notable Clients/Partners:

The platform caters to sports academies, schools, coaches, and players across India. It impacted over 1000 users, focusing on racket sports and expanding into team sports. Key partnerships include collaborations with sports academies and grassroots programs like the Chance to Sports initiative.

SportsSkill’s success is reflected in its strong user response, including positive feedback from schools, academies, and parents. Its efforts to integrate affordable, AI-driven tools have created significant value in underserved areas.

Investor Confidence:

A major milestone in the company’s journey was securing investment from KP Balaraj, whose expertise in private equity and personal background as a national-level athlete validated SportsSkill’s vision and scalability.

SportsSkill - Future Plans

Over the next 1-2 years, SportsSkill plans to focus on enhancing its product features and expanding its business footprint. The company aims to integrate big data analytics to improve performance tracking, matchplay insights, and goal setting while also developing specialized features tailored for schools to integrate sports technology into educational systems.

On the business front, SportsSkill is targeting global markets, including MENA, the USA, and Europe, as part of its broader strategy to reach 5 million users. At the same time, it plans to strengthen its presence in Indian cities and onboard new locations.

Additionally, grassroots initiatives like Chance2Sports will continue to play a key role in identifying untapped talent, providing advanced training tools, and offering sponsorship opportunities, ensuring holistic growth across all levels of the sports ecosystem.

FAQs

What is SportsSkill?

SportsSkill is a sports technology company that bridges the gap between athletes, coaches, parents, and institutions by providing data-driven tools to enhance performance and overall development in sports.

Who are the founders of SportsSkill?

Abhinav Sinha and Chetan Desai are the co-founders of SportsSkill.

What is the business model of SportsSkill?

SportsSkill operates on a B2B2C business model, catering to athletes, coaches, schools, and sports academies.