The landscape of sports media rights is undergoing a significant shift, with established leagues facing plateauing valuations and major events like the FIFA World Cup struggling to secure broadcast partners in key markets like India. Amidst this environment, SportVot, a startup founded in 2019 by Sidhhant Agarwal, Shubhangi Gupta, and Yash Bhagwatkar, is carving out a niche by democratizing live sports streaming for grassroots, amateur, and semi-professional athletes.
SportVot offers a white-label OTT solution designed to enable professional-grade broadcasting for sports organizations that previously found such services prohibitively expensive. The company competes in India’s burgeoning sports tech market, which is projected to exceed $3.5 billion by 2027. Recently, SportVot secured INR 32.7 crore in a funding round led by IAN Alpha Fund, bringing its total capital raised to approximately INR 40 crore. Notable investors in the company include Anicut Capital, LVX (LetsVenture), Capital A, Omidyar Network, and Ankur Capital.
Cofounder Sidhhant Agarwal highlighted the core problem SportVot addresses: the difficulty and cost associated with capturing and broadcasting sports tournaments. “What we do is simplify video capture through automation and reduce its cost,” Agarwal stated, explaining that their platform makes professional broadcasting accessible to average tournament organizers.
Agarwal, who previously founded a fantasy gaming platform called ThisGameWeek which was acquired by Nazara Technologies, pivoted to SportVot with the initial aim of talent discovery. The onset of the pandemic forced the startup to adapt, offering streaming services for events beyond sports, including political rallies and religious gatherings. This period, coupled with participation in a sports tech accelerator program in Melbourne, allowed SportVot to refine its product and operational model.
SportVot’s business model offers flexible service levels, from full-service production with on-site personnel and equipment to supporting organizers using their own smartphone cameras. The company provides automated camera tracking, remote production direction, graphics, and commentary services. They also facilitate monetization through advertising and sponsor cues and automatically generate highlight clips. Pricing is typically on a rental basis, covering equipment, production, and software, with options for per-game or per-competition packages.
The platform allows customers to stream on various channels, including YouTube, their own websites, or SportVot’s proprietary platform, which the company favors for sports like kabaddi where they have a substantial audience, potentially leading to revenue generation.
Key clients for SportVot include Reliance Foundation Youth Sports and South Africa-based SuperSport Schools, alongside numerous amateur and school-level organizers. Internationally, SportVot has a presence in South Africa, Portugal, Israel, and the US, often through partnerships with hardware manufacturers like Pixellot. The startup has facilitated live streaming for over 35 sports, with cricket, football, and kabaddi being popular in India, while rugby and football lead internationally. Padel and pickleball have also seen a surge in demand.
SportVot reported revenue of approximately INR 19 crore for FY26 and aims to double its scale in FY27. A significant challenge for the company, however, remains the inconsistent quality of sports infrastructure, particularly in India, which can impede the deployment and effectiveness of their technology. Agarwal noted that while they have developed workarounds, the foundational infrastructure at many venues requires improvement to fully realize the potential of their streaming solutions.
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