Source: Tracxn
Indian sports-tech startup KhiladiPro (KPro), has raised $1 million in pre-seed funding to improve the identification, development and retention of young talent in sport in India.
The round of funding was co-led by Shastra VC and MGA Ventures, with participation and feedback provided by a number of notable family offices and angel investors including M Pallonji, Jeena and Co., Ayaz Billawala, Nimesh Kampani, and Jaimin Bhat. The funding further illustrates the growing interest in the sports tech space, particularly with platforms that focus on youth development and data-driven performance tracking.
About KhiladiPro
KhiladiPro is a Bengaluru-based startup that uses Visual AI to facilitate sports assessments through mobile technology. Founded in August 2023 by Utkarsh Yadav, the assessments provide expert-level feedback to children while also helping coaches, parents, and school staff to identify an athlete’s strengths and areas of improvement.
We will use the newly raised funding to develop more advanced AI models and expand geographically across India, so we can strengthen our support system for young athletes from any socio-economic background as we want to ensure that quality sports assessment and training tools are available to children everywhere, said KhiladiPro.
The Bengaluru-based startup states that its flagship products feature sports ability tests for badminton and cricket.
- KPro Sports Ability Test (SAT): a mobile-based measure of physical and athletic ability in children.
- Khiladi Ability Index (KAI): a ranking system that uses AI and ranks athletes based on a common standard/scale.
The tools we are developing are built on global standards like Fundamental Motor Skills (FMS) and Long-Term Athlete Development (LTAD). These frameworks were developed to nurture and develop young athletes around the world. By using these frameworks, KhiladiPro can assess and monitor young athletes, helping to track and see who may become the next young sporting star, and support that athlete’s development systematically.
Growth And Partnership
The company has already established more than 56 AI models in-house and partnered with leading sporting bodies like the Karnataka Badminton Association, the Handball Association of India, and DLCL to extend these tools and KPro’s technology and programming into more schools, academies, and development training centres.
The sports-tech industry in India is forecasted to experience tremendous growth in the coming years, estimated to reach USD 1.48 Billion by 2033 according to IMARC Group projections. KhiladiPro is sure to be a leader in this expansion by combining technology, data, and sports, to provide a more inclusive, and efficient way to train athletes.
