Days after Sportomic, a startup incubated at Gujarat Technological University (GTU) Ventures, was awarded the ‘Best Startup in the Sports and Gaming’ category at the Startup Mahakumbh declared in New Delhi in the presence of Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal, the GTU on Saturday felicitated the founders.
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.”
“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, told The Indian Express.
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“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 Jhunjhunwala told The Indian Express.
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.
Further, the founders recently hosted a first-of-its-kind founder meetup — a two-hour pickleball-powered networking session called Game, Set and Startup. It brought together startup founders, investors and sports enthusiasts to discuss ideas while playing. “Because sometimes, the best pitches happen while smashing the ball, not PowerPoints,” Rahul said.
