AHMEDABAD: Gujarat Sports Startup Conclave has concluded here with sports-ed platform CoLLearn walking away with top honours and ₹10 lacs in prize money as ₹26lac in all was given out to the award winners on Monday.
The panel of judges comprising Abhishek Desai (founder, Cricheroes), Punit Balan (chairman & managing director, Punit Balan Group), Tenzing Niyogi (CEO, Ultimate Kho Kho) and Jalaj Dani (founder/president, Sportscom) picked winners from the eight startups during the grand finale at India’s first-ever Pitchbook Competition dedicated for sports startups by Government of Gujarat.
CoLLearn, a platform founded by Srishty Jain, which offers non-traditional courses in sports analytics, sport commentary, sports journalism, cricket umpiring, football analytics, was adjudged winner by the panel.
Hyderabad-based Gamepoint finished a close second to win a purse of ₹7 lacs. Gamepoint founded by Aditya Reddy and Siddharth Reddy is a sports tech fullstack company who are on a stated mission to foster a thriving sports culture in India by providing convenient access to sports for millions of individuals. The purse for the third place was raised to ₹5 lacs and equally split between Gujarat-based Hyperlab and Baller Athletik, a company specialising in sleep athleisure apparels.
India Khelo Football, PlayCKC, Fanplay and Atium Sports received consolation prize and an amount of ₹1 lac each.
64 startups had registered for the Pitchbook Competition. The winners will also receive mentorship from industry experts. The top 15 startups selected by the panel demonstrated their products at free stalls during the Exhibition held on the sidelines of the Gujarat Sports Startup Conclave.
The Gujarat Sports Startup Conclave, a first-ever initiative by any state government, was an intersection between sports and business in alignment with the Government of Gujarat’s vision for the growth of sports in India.
The conclave, organised by the Sports Authority of Gujarat, in partnership with TransStadia University and Sportscom Industry Confederation and backed by Startup India, i-Hub and The Bridge, have been working with the Gujarat Government to facilitate ‘Next Generation Entrepreneurship’.
It was organised to recognise and celebrate the outstanding sports businesses that are revolutionising innovative companies working in the sporting landscape across the country. The conclave not only showcased India’s potential as a sporting powerhouse but also bolstered the startup economy and contributed to the progress of sports in Gujarat as well as other parts of the country.
