Sportomic, founded by Rahul Jhunjhunwala and Viral Malvania, two former senior leaders at Aditya Birla Group, is creating one of India’s most dynamic sports-tech ecosystems.
A few days after Sportomic, a startup incubated at Gujarat Technological University (GTU) Ventures, won the ‘Best Startup in Sports and Gaming’ award at Startup Mahakumbh in New Delhi, the founders were honored by GTU on Saturday in a special ceremony.
It bagged praises for an innovative approach to make sports more accessible across India from the minister who encourage the wider implementation of its model at national level.
Founded by Rahul Jhunjhunwala and and Viral Malvania, two former senior leaders at Aditya Birla Group, Sportomic is building India’s most vibrant sports-tech ecosystem – designed to make sports accessible, social, and a daily lifestyle.
Sportomic emerged as one of the top 50 startups among over 3,000 contenders across India and was the only startup from Gujarat to win the Startup Maharathi Challenge.
As part of the recognition, Sportomic has been awarded a grant of Rs 5 lakh by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade to scale its impact further.
Speaking on the achievement, Dr Rajul K Gajjar, Vice Chancellor of GTU, said: “We are proud to see Sportomic, an incubatee of GTU Ventures, win the Startup Maharathi Challenge and receive national recognition at Startup Mahakumbh. This achievement reflects the innovative spirit of our startups and the strength of the GTU Ventures and entrepreneurial ecosystem of Gujarat. GTU Ventures provides a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship across Gujarat, and this recognition further reaffirms its commitment to nurturing high-impact, scalable startups.”
According to the media report, “In a world where sedentary lifestyles are becoming the norm, Sportomic is flipping the script by getting people off their screens and onto the court. Sportomic is more than a startup – it’s a movement to make India play again. With technology, community, and culture on our side, we are turning everyday players into champions of fitness and fun. Also, when the country is pitching for 2036 Olympics, the government too is pushing for sports, we are aiming for a right match for the sport,” one of the two co-founders, Rahul Said.
The six-month-old startup runs with the motto of ‘from sofa to sports’.
Viral who once saw sports as a distraction, found it to be his well-being hack. “What started as a personal journey is now inspiring thousands. We, the founders, experienced the transformative power of sports personally,” he added.
The founders also recently hosted a unique event – a two-hour networking session called “Game, Set, and Startup,” powered by pickleball. It brought together startup founders, investors, and sports lovers to share ideas while playing. “Sometimes the best pitches happen while hitting the ball, not presenting PowerPoints,” Rahul said.