How Bowled.io is Connecting Fans, One Game at a Time Akshay Khandelwal and Rahul Singh established Bowled.io, a sports-based social gaming platform primarily catering to cricket fans, in November 2021. The startup is all about connecting fans, be it in Meerut, Manchester, or Melbourne, and has an active customer base of 200,000+ as of now.
By Paromita Gupta •
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The current journey of a sports fan is one-sided in nature, and there is a lack of engaged communities. This was the experiential gap across sports and entertainment that Akshay Khandelwal and Rahul Singh wanted to bridge. The duo cracked the code when they established Bowled.io, a sports-based social gaming platform primarily catering to cricket fans, in November 2021.
"Fans just consume content and information, like matches, highlights, news articles and social media posts, YouTube content like interviews and podcasts, and sometimes partake in some mini & brief discussions with friends and netizens on non-unified online forums, but it ends there," shares Akshay Khandelwal, founder, Bowled.io. Singh-Khandelwal also found inspiration in Axie Infinity, a global blockchain gaming giant (and now a partner).
The startup is all about connecting fans, be it in Meerut, Manchester, or Melbourne, and has an active customer base of 200,000+ as of now. So, what gives Bowled.io an edge over others, and what has the customers coming back for more? "The differentiation lies in our broader product itself, which appeals to different types of sports fans, right from casual fans to hard-core sports fanatics," shares Rahul Singh, co-founder, Bowled.io. Its retention mechanism is focused on creating product-related virality loops to attract and retain users. Digital ownership coupled with a wide variety of games, from hypercasual mini-games to strategic card games and fantasy games, is what has the users loving the platform. "The fundamental business model itself is very different from the existing fantasy gaming platforms," Singh adds. They further share that the biweekly in-app tournaments are a major hit, along with community events and, initiatives and reward mechanisms.
So, where do they see the startup in the next five years? "We started with cricket, and we want to expand into other sports on a global stage and create multiple exciting IPs in the sports and entertainment segment," concludes Khandelwal.
Factsheet:
Amount of external funding received: $3M
Number of people employed: 21
Year of Inception: November 2021
Key customers: 200k+ users
