New technology from startup ventures is transforming the sports industry. The mission of this series will be to introduce startup companies in the sports technology space to a broader audience and allow Founders of promising new ventures to tell their story. Feel free to contact us if you know of a startup that should be considered for this series.
Company: Spyn
Co-founder: Ravindra Kumar
Headquarters: Mumbai, India
1. What is your elevator pitch?
Stay active, fit and thereby looking great are the new-age basic needs. People across the world believe that playing sports is the best way to fulfill these needs. In addition, sports bring passion to everyday life. Sports enthusiasts, today, spend a lot of time in scheduling sports activities but very few plans actually turn into a real game of their favorite sport. Spyn will help the sports enthusiasts Play More and Play Better.
2. Problem & Solution
A majority of the urban population is not able to play sports as often as they want. The major reasons are (a) inaccessibility to players with similar skill level nearby and, (b) unavailability of information about sports facilities, coaches and sports activities around. Spyn will bring these stakeholders, in the recreational sports industry, to one platform thereby creating value for all. Players will find fellow players nearby, coaches will get students, sports facilities will get bookings and activity organizers will get registrations. Spyn aspires to simplify the process of organizing sports so that players spend more time playing.
3. Market – your target market and the overall market
In terms of customers: we are targeting sports and fitness enthusiasts in the urban area typically in the age group of 13-50 years
In terms of market size: The overall market is estimated to be around USD 3Bn in India, of which USD 300 million is our pie to grab. We also have global expansion plans, which will add a lot more meat to the specified market size.
4. Business Model – how do you make money?
We will monetize this one-stop-shop-for-sports platform through a mix of listing and commission charges to sports facilities, coaches and tournament organizers. We will also have a CPC and CPI model for sports advertisers who are looking for super targeted marketing campaigns.
5. Management Team – with titles
We are a team of sports enthusiast and faced the aforementioned problems personally. We know the kind of solution is needed. We come from some of the top educational institutes and have experience in working with great companies in the respective fields.
Ravindra Kumar (co-founder) – Marketing and User Acquisition
Ravindra has worked as marketing strategy and analytics consultant to CPG clients, the likes of Procter & Gamble and Coca Cola. He is an Engineer from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (IIT-Delhi) and a MBA graduate from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-Ahmedabad)
Nayan Karnavat (co-founder) – Business Development (supply side)
Nayan has worked for Deloitte, ING Insurance (Operations and Strategy / Financial reporting) and Pinnacle Infraheights P L (head of Business Development). He is a MBA graduate from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM Ahmedabad) and an Engineer from VJTI (Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute) Mumbai.
Sudarshan Karnavat (co-founder) – Technology
Sudarshan has worked as software engineer for Syntel, started Interior Designing and Execution vertical in Pinnacle Infraheights P L and has run it successfully for 10 years. He is a computer Science engineer from RAIT (Ramrao Adik Institute of Technology) Mumbai.
6. What else do you want the audience to know about your venture?
Currently, spyn has coach and sports facility partnerships from Bangalore and Mumbai only. However, the ‘find player’ and ‘schedule activities’ functionalities can be used by anyone in the world.
One question that we are commonly asked is what does spyn stands for. So let me highlight here that Spyn stands for SPorts in Your Neighborhood
Our android app is available on Google Play (www.spyn.co/download). We will be launching the iOS version soon. Get more details about us at www.spyn.co
Bonus Question: If you were to invite any CEO to dinner who would it be and why?
Travis Kalanick, because I really respect him for the value that Uber adds to our daily lives with such a simple product interface.