Bangalore based Pulse Sport Pvt.
Ltd, which runs Sports365, an online store of sports goods and fitness
equipment has acquired online Tennis store Tennishub.in in an all-stock deal. The
aim is to specialize in different verticals and cater to the specific set of
audience in a more customized manner.
Tennishub.in is an online tennis
store founded by tennis player and Olympian Vishnu Vardhan and sports
entrepreneur Afroze Khan. The team of Tennishub will join Sports365. It consists
of 18 employees. Sports365 has also launched a new portal catering to running
enthusiasts called Runninghub.in and plans to launch different segments for
cycling and outdoor products in the next three months.
Runninghub.in will offer a
selection of running shoes, apparel, running gear and nutrition related
products. It will also allow runners to interact with experts and get advice in
real time. Sports365 raised $1.5 Million last year from US based venture capital
firm Zolon Ventures and Powerhouse Ventures. It will close another $6 Million
in funding in six weeks. The investors are likely going to be a venture capital
funds and companies who are related to sports business.
It will spend over $4-5 Million of
this money into marketing and product development including expansion of its
range of private label products. It currently sells apparel and accessories. It
will expand it to three more categories including fitness. For Marketing, it
plans to continue with aggressive Social Media and re-targeting campaigns. It claims
to be selling 25,000 products per month with an average ticket size of INR
1600-1700.
Besides Mahesh Bhupathi and his
wife Lara Dutta, the company has cricketer Yuvraj Singh as its stakeholders.
While there aren’t many firms in the sports category in India, the company
locks horns with general merchandiser such as Snapdeal and Flipkart, who sells
sports and fitness categories on their platform.
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