Animesh Pandey in a one on one interview with Prittle Prattle News
Animesh Pandey says,”They play well as they are Born to Play!”
Q 1. Tell us about Born to Play and its journey. (Please include, when did it start, with what seed capital, investments, fundings, founders, the story behind starting it)
The vision of Born To Play is to make India the next sporting powerhouse of the world. Founded in 2016 by many community-driven sports fanatics, Born To Play wants to change the way people look at India’s sports. By feeding interest in sports and making it something that you can’t live without, Born To Play is creating training opportunities and showcasing talent for sports enthusiasts and aspiring athletes. Our mission is to Nurture and exaggerate the community’s excitement in sports and pave the road of becoming a sporting powerhouse of the universe.
“I started planning about doing something in the sports domain in the final year of college when my professional sports career had officially ended. After much analysis and planning, I was sure that I wanted to start something. It was primarily because upon researching, I found no other organization that was doing what I felt was the need for the sports industry’s hour. Finally, after I graduated, I started working on this Idea full time, and on 25th July 2016, I Incorporated BTP SPORTS PVT LTD (Born To Play).
Soon, we started doing competitive community sports events in various parts of Delhi across six sports. Fewer opportunities of players to come out and compete, the Idea gained much traction and was a big hit among Delhi’s sportspersons. People of all age groups participated with much enthusiasm. I started with a minimal initial investment and kept investing the required funds from time to time. Luckily I found Drishti and then Mehul a year later, who shared my passion and vision and were ready to come on board full time with their valuable experience and skillsets.
Born To Play is wholly bootstrapped, and we have grown to a community of more than 50,000 sportspersons and sports enthusiasts in Delhi NCR across various sports. We are 20 member teams and are operating in multiple business verticals Like Sports events, training and athlete development, Sports tours, and Infrastructure development. Soon we will start preparing to raise funds for taking our operations Pan-India and launching a couple of new verticals in the domains of sports tech and sports merchandise” ~ Animesh Pandey.
Q 2. What is the primary pain point your startup is solving? Or What is the problem you are trying to solve? Big or small.
India is one of the most populated in the world. Compared to other countries, 50 of the 205 countries don’t compete in the Olympics. Exploring the reasons for this, I found that-
* There was a lack of overall planning, opportunities, encouragement, and motivation for the young athletes of India
* Inaccessible opportunities for training and competition
* Lack of knowledge on career prospects in sports
* Lack of proper sports infrastructure
With Born To Play, we are trying to create opportunities, infrastructure, and awareness in sports and its career prospects and essentially encouraging people to come out and play regularly regardless of their age, gender, or level of Play. I believe that we will not see great players from India unless they come together and get involved. As I said earlier, Our vision is to Nurture and intensifies the community’s interest in sports and paves the roadmap of becoming a world’s sporting powerhouse.
Q 3. What is the business model?
Well, the business model is quite simple! We have both B2B ( for corporates, institutions League Organisers, sports federations) and a B2C approach for all the amateur players or the layers practicing to professionally pursue the sport. It’s generally registration fee, sponsorships, or an organizers fee in case of a B2B event in these events. The training module is Subscription-based and in the other verticals.
Q 4. Who are all your competitors in India and other markets you are catering to or planning? How do you stand out?
We have various competitors in various business lines; I would say IMG is the industry leader, and SportzVillage is one of our competitors with a maximum overlap of services. Our key focus has always been customer satisfaction, and our team comprises of sportsperson who have lived the struggles of being a sportsperson in India! That is something that makes us stand out!
Q 5. What kind of customers you have so far?
We have all kinds of customers, young players, adult players, veteran players! We even have many schools, colleges, corporates, and league organizers as our clients.
Q 6. Tell us about your funding and your development plans?
Born To Play bootstrapped, and we have grown to a community of more than 50,000 sportspersons and sports enthusiasts in Delhi NCR across various sports. We have increased to a team of more than 20 and are operating in multiple business verticals Like Sports events, training and athlete development, Sports tours, Infrastructure development. Soon we will start preparing and raise funds for taking our operations Pan-India along with launching a couple of new verticals in the domains of sports tech and sports merchandise.
Q 7. Please tell us about the founders.
There are three founders luckily with a different skillset –
Animesh Pandey- I am a national tennis player, and I even qualified for the National swimming meet; I’ve played and competed in almost all sports (not professionally). I have an honors degree in commerce from Delhi University. They call me “The dreamer.”
Drishti Mehta – She is a Graduate with honors in statistics from Delhi University. She has a belied that community has the power to drive change. In her life, she has dedicated much time to the community. She was a core member of 2 NGOs, which are now operational Pan-India. She understands the city, its needs, and how to build it further. We call her “The Do-er.”
Mehul Sethi – He is the Engineer of the team. The tech guy who has the maximum corporate exposure out of all of us. Mehul always had a knack for sports. A footballer and a Mixed Martial arts enthusiast, he always wanted to do something for games and hence left his successful corporate job to be a part of “Born To Play.”
Q 8. What issues did you face during the initial years?
Finding the right partners and the right person for the right job is always a challenge; that’s what we faced when we started. We were doing everything ourselves to save costs or do the situation in the best way. But with time, we build a strong, dedicated, and passionate team.
Q 9. Please tell us about the Product. Explain how you went about the Process.
I’ll go vertical by vertical.
I Events – Under our events segments, we have two kinds of events. Community-level sports and esports events for players of all age groups (Under 4 yrs to 50 yrs and above) – These events have created after many surveys and R & D on the gaps in amateur tournaments and competitive platforms in Sports and esports. B2B events for Corporates, Brands, League Organizers – These events are crafted based on the objectives and the clients’ requirements. We provide end to end support from conceptualization – execution of the game. In the events vertical, it is always about understanding your customers’ requirements and getting the right qualified personnel to conclude the task in the best possible way.
II Training and Athlete Development – Under this segment, the main focus is on making accessible proper training and exposure through the right training curriculum, qualified and experienced coaches. The curriculum outlined with the help of the industry leaders of India. Apart from regular training, many sports tours and camps organized in India and Abroad for additional exposure to athletes. Sports Career counseling is also introduced to the athletes to be fully aware and better to drive their careers.
III Sports Infrastructure Development – Born To Play bridges the gap between the world’s best infrastructure brands from Europe, the USA, Germany, China, and Taiwan. A one-stop-shop for all your sporting infrastructure needs. Born To Play creates designs, deploys, and maintains world-class international standard sporting infrastructure – that ranges from indoor to outdoor playing fields. Born To Play ensures complete execution from the conceptualization of an idea to its final performance. Our experienced and innovative design team works closely with world-class sporting minds/professionals to deliver all-encompassing solutions. Our experience in the sports industry makes us the best team to design and build your facility. More the number of playing fields in the country, the more the players in the country.
Q10. What is the uniqueness that you have about this market, which no one else has? The uniqueness of your startup? What is the merit of the startup and the scale of operations? Whom do You Perceive as Your Competition?
Being a sportsperson myself, I have all the insights in the direction of the various struggles faced by sportsmen. The completeness of our 360-degree solution makes us unique! We are more than 20 team members now, and as of now, we are only operational in Delhi NCR. We have different competitors in different lines of business. I would say IMG is the industry leader, and SportzVillage is one of our competitors with a maximum overlap of services.
Q 11. What is the revenue model? Who is your target audience?
We have a subscription and a consultancy based revenue model with the most suitable Revenue model for us. Our customers are the sportspersons and sports enthusiasts of all ages and genders. Our services will enable and encourage them to go further in sports. To be honest, we got our first 50 customers with almost zero advertisements. It is the need of the hour for the sportspersons of India.
Q 12. Is this Product leading to something bigger? If so, how? Since the company establishment, give us a sense of the value of business done by your venture? What is the current turnover?
The company’s mission is to make India a sporting powerhouse globally; We are enablers who create opportunities and pave the path. We have successfully touched more than 50000 players through our events, but there is still much ground to cover. Our revenues can found on the MCA website, where we disclose our company accounts. Since inception, we have grown to a community to more than 50,000 sportspersons and sports enthusiasts in Delhi NCR across various sports. We have increased to a team of more than 20 and are operating in multiple business verticals Like Sports events, training and athlete development, Sports tours, Infrastructure development. Soon we will start preparing and raise funds for taking our operations Pan-India and launching a couple of new verticals in the domains of sports tech and sports merchandise”.
Q 13. What would be your vision to accomplish in the next six months?
Well, six months is too short of a span for an acknowledgeable goal. But our 18-month goal is to scale operation in 4 cities of India. To my fellow entrepreneurs, I would like to keep working hard, be patient, and always believe in yourself! As we are the ones who are bringing the change, concludes Mr. Animesh in the conversation with Prittle Prattle News
