Sports tech startup KhiladiPro raises $1 million in round led by Shastra VC, MGA Ventures

Economic Times

2 days ago

Sports tech startup KhiladiPro has raised $1 million in a funding round led by early-stage funds Shastra VC and MGA Ventures. The round also saw participation from angel investors.The funds will be used for developing its proprietary AI models, expanding its reach in domestic markets, and enhancing support systems for athletes. Founded in August 2023, the Bengaluru-based company provides standardised athletic assessments for children. The firm has over 60 AI models.
Its flagship products include sports ability tests for badminton and cricket, the Khiladi Ability Index (KAI), which places all users on a unified rating scale, Olympiad for schools, and content play Khiladi Klub for high-potential youth athletes. It follows a transactional revenue model, charging a fee for each assessment conducted per child.
'Assessment is a key gap in the market. Around two crore children attend academies in the evenings, but there's no standard metric to track progress…So, assessments are crucial to provide a benchmark for all this time invested, helping kids understand where they truly stand,' cofounder and chief executive Utkarsh Yadav told ET.
According to the firm, India's sports technology market is projected to reach $1,479 million by 2033. Over the past four months, KhiladiPro has partnered with around 75 to 80 academies, reaching about 40,000 students. The platform is currently carrying out between 2,000 and 3,000 assessments each month.KhiladiPro plans to complete 200,000 assessments by the end of the current financial year, while also broadening its range of sports offerings.According to cofounder Nirav Shah, the company is receiving inbound interest from international markets and is now exploring expansion into Australia and the UAE.'There are many sports tech companies using hardware sensors to track physical movements or biomarkers, but no one has been able to achieve the level of accuracy we have using just mobile devices and visual AI,' said Shah, noting that this is a widespread challenge.The sports tech sector has seen increasing interest from investors due to its potential for innovation and growth. Last year in October, Str8bat raised $3.5 million in a funding round led by Exfinity Venture Partners.In May 2024, Stupa Sports Analytics raised Rs 28 crore in a funding round led by Centre Court Capital and Peer Capital, while in February last year, SportVot raised Rs 9.4 crore in funding led by Omidyar Network India.