Sportstech Startup Game Theory Ropes In Chief Badminton Coach Pullela Gopichand, Others As Investors

Sportstech startup Game Theory has roped in India’s chief badminton coach Pullela Gopichand and a clutch of other players as investors.

However, the company did not disclose the financial terms of the new funding round.

Among others who have participated in the round include former squash player Saurav Ghosal and table tennis veteran Sharath Kamal.

The company plans to deploy the fresh proceeds to elevate athletes from foundational skills to elite competitive levels using the world’s leading technologies brought to everyday play.

“By investing in this venture, I hope to contribute to building a robust sports ecosystem that nurtures talent from the grassroots level. With Game Theory’s technology, we’ll not only be able to deliver a great program but also scout future talents, helping us win in the sport on a global scale. We can now create a structured and highly personalised pathway that guides young athletes to excel globally, particularly at the Olympics,” Gopichand said.

This comes at a time when sports and fitness tech startup Machaxi and SportVot raised funds earlier this year, in a pre-Series A funding round from various investors aimed at expansion and boosting their tech stack and product offerings.

Founded in 2019 by Sudeep Kulkarni, Game Theory is creating an ecosystem through a user-friendly app, facilitating the seamless discovery of compatible players and enjoyable gaming experiences.

It also claims to use computer-vision data to help players track progress, provide deep stats, and offer personalised coaching.

In November last year, Game Theory acquired sports analytics startup Matchday.ai to leverage its tech stack, which employs computer vision and AI capabilities, already being used in pro-sports.

At the heart of this development, a lot of funding and M&A activities have been witnessed in India’s broader sportstech space.

For instance, in October last year, Bengaluru-based sportstech company raised $2 Mn (INR 16.7 Cr) in its pre-Series A funding round from Nithin Kamath’s Rainmatter, Rohan Bopanna, WEH Ventures, Prequate Advisory, and angel investors such as Balakrishna Adiga.

Meanwhile, athletic professionals have been active in backing growing startups in the country.

Earlier this year, Pune-based EV startup EMotorad roped in former Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni as an equity investor and healthtech platform Curelo raised funds from Indian cricketer Shreyas Iyer.

Few weeks ago, Olympian PV Sindhu also invested into an agritech startup Greenday’s FMCG brand Better Nutrition and D2C wellness brand Hoop.