Agnificent Platform Technologies (“APT”), which recently released the Khel Now Platform across India and beyond, today announced that the Anglian Omega Network (“Anglian”) has invested USD 350,000 in to the company. In addition to coming on board as a strategic investor, Anglian has also taken on an advisory role in the company.
Khel Now intends to use this investment to attract more users and partners, as well as to build upon its existing offerings and even integrate with state-of-the-art sports technology solutions and platforms such as Facebook, Google, Twitter and others. As part of this deal, Khel Now will be able to leverage Anglian’s huge network of more than 1 Million Facebook and Twitter followers and business partners, including professional football clubs and athletes as well as grassroots academies and coaches.
Khel Now connects sports fans and other stakeholders – associations, leagues, teams, coaches, academies, fields, gyms, sporting brands, businesses, and others – from around the world using relevant, timely, location-specific and crowd-sourced content and social networking. In just a few weeks after the launch aimed initially at football-fans and stakeholders Khel Now has rapidly expanded to hosting thousands of pages that have been accessed by tens of thousands of users across India and beyond. In that short span of time it has also signed partnerships with professional clubs and sports businesses as well as with local schools, academies, coaches and regional media outlets.
According to FIFA, the world governing body of the sport, football is the fastest growing sport in India both in terms of viewership as well as participants. They estimate the country to have more than 20 Million players while some reports suggest that there are 3.5 Billion worldwide fans of the sport. While it is well known that fans spend a lot of time each week consuming sports content, a record number of them are going online to consume their favorite sports content via mobile devices and social networks. With Khel Now, APT has built the world’s first mobile social platform for sports that allow fans to contribute as well as consume sports-related content.
Dhruv Ratra, Co-Founder and CEO, Khel Now said: “We have worked with Anglian in a variety of capacities over the years both in India as well as in other parts of the world. They have a proven track record of helping grow and operate sports businesses of various types - from professional clubs to grassroots academies. With this investment we will be able to continue our growth and attract new users and partners to the global Khel Now Platform. While we have had tremendous success reaching out to engaged fans we want to continue making inroads in to local schools, colleges, youth academies and other grassroots initiatives across India and beyond. In addition to providing the capital we are very pleased that Anglian has agreed to take on an advisory role in our company. Their sports network is second to none, and we are confident that they will be able to help us expand rapidly.”
Speaking on the investment, Sunny Narang, Chairman, Anglian Omega Network said, “Having been in the business of creating various sports ecosystems to support Indian sports and athletes, we realize the importance of having a good team. I have been extremely impressed with the Khel Now team. Their Silicon Valley-based co-founders, one of whom has deep ties to India and Indian sports, combined with their India-based incubation team, is simply a joy to work with. Having worked with many traditional sports businesses and operations we noticed a huge opportunity for a digital sports platform with state-of-the-art mobile and social networking capabilities. Khel Now addresses this gap, especially for those at the grass-roots and amateur levels. For these reasons we decided to invest in, and become a strategic advisor for, the Khel Now team thereby also expanding our sports portfolio in to the mobile, social and digital realm.”
Khel Now intends to use this investment to attract more users and partners, as well as to build upon its existing offerings and even integrate with state-of-the-art sports technology solutions and platforms such as Facebook, Google, Twitter and others. As part of this deal, Khel Now will be able to leverage Anglian’s huge network of more than 1 Million Facebook and Twitter followers and business partners, including professional football clubs and athletes as well as grassroots academies and coaches.
Khel Now connects sports fans and other stakeholders – associations, leagues, teams, coaches, academies, fields, gyms, sporting brands, businesses, and others – from around the world using relevant, timely, location-specific and crowd-sourced content and social networking. In just a few weeks after the launch aimed initially at football-fans and stakeholders Khel Now has rapidly expanded to hosting thousands of pages that have been accessed by tens of thousands of users across India and beyond. In that short span of time it has also signed partnerships with professional clubs and sports businesses as well as with local schools, academies, coaches and regional media outlets.
According to FIFA, the world governing body of the sport, football is the fastest growing sport in India both in terms of viewership as well as participants. They estimate the country to have more than 20 Million players while some reports suggest that there are 3.5 Billion worldwide fans of the sport. While it is well known that fans spend a lot of time each week consuming sports content, a record number of them are going online to consume their favorite sports content via mobile devices and social networks. With Khel Now, APT has built the world’s first mobile social platform for sports that allow fans to contribute as well as consume sports-related content.
Dhruv Ratra, Co-Founder and CEO, Khel Now said: “We have worked with Anglian in a variety of capacities over the years both in India as well as in other parts of the world. They have a proven track record of helping grow and operate sports businesses of various types - from professional clubs to grassroots academies. With this investment we will be able to continue our growth and attract new users and partners to the global Khel Now Platform. While we have had tremendous success reaching out to engaged fans we want to continue making inroads in to local schools, colleges, youth academies and other grassroots initiatives across India and beyond. In addition to providing the capital we are very pleased that Anglian has agreed to take on an advisory role in our company. Their sports network is second to none, and we are confident that they will be able to help us expand rapidly.”
Speaking on the investment, Sunny Narang, Chairman, Anglian Omega Network said, “Having been in the business of creating various sports ecosystems to support Indian sports and athletes, we realize the importance of having a good team. I have been extremely impressed with the Khel Now team. Their Silicon Valley-based co-founders, one of whom has deep ties to India and Indian sports, combined with their India-based incubation team, is simply a joy to work with. Having worked with many traditional sports businesses and operations we noticed a huge opportunity for a digital sports platform with state-of-the-art mobile and social networking capabilities. Khel Now addresses this gap, especially for those at the grass-roots and amateur levels. For these reasons we decided to invest in, and become a strategic advisor for, the Khel Now team thereby also expanding our sports portfolio in to the mobile, social and digital realm.”
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