Mahesh Bhupathi's Sports365 buys Tennishub, to launch niche sports portals

Sports goods e-store Sports365.in, backed by tennis star Mahesh Bhupathi, has acquired tennis products portal Tennishub.in for an undisclosed amount.

As part of the transaction, the entire team of Tennishub.in would join Sports365.in.

With one niche platform under its wings, Sports365.in wants to diversify into other sports.

It has launched Runninghub.in, an e-shopping store that specialises in accessories and equipment for serious runners.

"The idea is to develop sports which are now gaining popularity in India. This can only be done by taking a deep dive through the launch of niche online properties catering to specific needs of consumers," said Chandra Sekhar Reddy, CEO of Sports365.in, which is run by Live Sports 365 e-retail Pvt Ltd.

The startup will also unveil Cyclinghub.in (for cycling enthusiasts) and Outdoorhub.in (for outdoor games) in the next three months.

Further, Sports365.in has plans to launch three new private labels across categories such as fitness accessories, junior equipment, and performance apparel (for athletes). The yet-to-launch brand for athletes will be a premium product but 15-20 per cent cheaper than products of Nike, Adidas and Puma.

"There are still many people in the country who cannot afford to buy shoes or sportswear from brands such as Nike or Puma. We are looking at making sports wear and sport product affordable to those, especially people living in tier two cities," Reddy said.

He claims that the company gets 30 per cent of its orders from tier two cities.

Sports365.in already has one private brand, Goal, which currently contributes about three per cent to its revenue. Reddy claims that the online store clocks upto 24,000 orders a month. The startup recorded revenue of about Rs 15 crore for the year ended March 31, 2015.

Founded in 2012, Sports365.in sells sports and fitness goods through its portal. It also has an offline play under which it supplies sports equipment and fitness products to schools, colleges and sports clubs. The company had raised $1 million from Zolon Ventures and Powerhouse Ventures last year.

Sports365.in competes with other online players such as GroundOnline, KhelMart and others. It also competes with horizontal e-commerce majors such as Snapdeal, Flipkart and Amazon who have sports and fitness products as different categories on their platforms. Snapdeal had acquired eSportsbuy three years ago but later shut the site after integrating the business as a vertical within its marketplace.