NEW DELHI: Sports tech startup Hudle has appointed Pullela Gopichand as brand ambassador and advisor.
Hudle’s decision to onboard the Indian badminton icon comes a few months after the Delhi-based company signed on Indian Test cricket vice captain Ajinkya Rahane.
“Badminton is the most frequently played sport among recreational players and having a legend like Pullela Gopichand on board is a perfect fit for Hudle. He has transformed badminton in India and symbolises dependability and perfection, which is what Hudle stands for. We are very excited to grow the idea of recreational sports and take it to a wider audience through this partnership,” said Suhail Narain, founder and CEO, Hudle.
Hudle has partnered with over 400 sports venues across Delhi NCR, Maharashtra and more than 60,000 players use it to plan their games. It also offers specialised badminton subscriptions (All Access Pass) for regular badminton players, giving them access to 300+ courts on Hudle.
“Badminton has huge potential to become a sport for the masses. It requires fewer playing partners and can be played in limited space. When I met the Hudle team I realised that they had perfectly capitalised on this uniqueness about the sport by using technology to make it accessible to everyone. I am very excited to be on board and help them unlock new opportunities,” the former Olympian and All England champion said.
Hudle has been growing steadily since its inception and raised an undisclosed pre-series A investment round in December last year, which was led by Survam Partners, family office of Suman Kant Munjal. The round also saw participation from multiple angel investors including the founder of The Sherpas, Amandeep.
In 2020-21, despite the slowdown due to the pandemic, Hudle claims to have grown 4x as compared to 2019-20.
