PlayBlue Taps KL Rahul As Investor, Eyes 100-Store Sports Retail Network

Sports retail startup PlayBlue has onboarded cricketer KL Rahul as an investor and brand ambassador days ahead of launching its flagship store in Bengaluru. PlayBlue is set to open a 20,000 sq ft flagship store on 80 Feet Road in Bengaluru and launch its mobile app this Saturday (November 14).

The flagship store will be spread across three retail floors, a café level and a rooftop terrace. Its product portfolio will span sports apparel, footwear, equipment, accessories, recovery products and sports nutrition, catering to both amateur and professional athletes.

Beyond conventional retail, PlayBlue is positioning itself around specialised product discovery and in-store experiences. The store will offer gait analysis, treadmill-based footwear testing and cricket bat sensors to help customers assess products before making purchases.

It will also provide services such as racquet stringing, cricket bat knocking and bicycle servicing.

The rooftop space, called The Playground, will have a pickleball court, one-on-one futsal turf and a cricket net equipped with a bowling machine. The company also plans to host community classes, recovery sessions and sports club events at the venue.

The startup aims to expand to over 100 stores across 25 Indian cities over the next five years.

Founded in 2025 by former GMR Sports’ CEO Satyam Trivedi and former Cult.fit’s executive Jayam Vora, PlayBlue sells an assortment of athleisure, footwear, gear, fitness equipment, recovery products and nutrition through its retail stores and ecommerce platform.

“We’re building the store we wanted to walk into ourselves. Having KL Rahul on board as both an investor and our ambassador gives us a partner who knows what the right gear means to someone who plays,” Vora said.

The development comes months after PlayBlue secured $2.7 Mn (₹25.7 Cr) in a seed funding round in July, co-led by Centre Court Capital and MIXI Global, with participation from WEH Ventures.

To note, KL Rahul has backed numerous brands in the Indian startup ecosystem, including Boldfit, Flam, XYXX and Metaman.

With the Indian sports market projected to more than double to $130 Bn by FY30, investors’ interest remains lukewarm in backing startups in this space.

For instance, fitness and sportswear brand Boldfit raised around ₹400 Cr (about $41.8 Mn) from Bharat Value Fund as part of its Series B funding round in October, for its nationwide retail expansion, product innovation, and manufacturing. 

Earlier in April, sportstech startup SportVot raised ₹32.7 Cr (about $3.8 Mn) in a fresh funding round led by IAN Alpha Fund, to expand its international presence and strengthen its AI-powered production and analytics capabilities.

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