In India, pickleball has grown from a distinct segment pastime right into a quickly rising leisure motion. The game combines components of tennis, badminton and desk tennis, and its simplicity has made it interesting to gamers throughout generations.
Nevertheless, the game’s progress has been hampered by fragmented infrastructure and an absence of organisation. Gamers usually struggled to find correct courts, tournaments often ran not on time as a consequence of poor planning, and the neighborhood relied on scattered WhatsApp teams for communication.
Based this Might, Picklebay has emerged as India’s first tech-integrated, end-to-end platform devoted solely to pickleball.
“It was a sport with large power however no construction,” remembers Siddhant Jatia, founding father of Picklebay. “Each time I performed, I might sense how a lot folks beloved the sport, however I additionally noticed the frustration. I used to be taking part in 4 to 5 instances per week, however there was no straightforward option to discover regulation-sized courts or gamers of my talent stage. Tournaments would drag on for hours due to poor scheduling.”
To create a dependable database of services, the group bodily visited each pickleball court docket throughout six main cities: Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai, and Bengaluru. At the moment, Picklebay lists round 225 services representing 600-650 courts. Every itemizing contains stay pictures, verified measurements, and particulars of facilities resembling lighting, parking, and washrooms.
“We wished to remove the guesswork that gamers face and construct belief by means of information accuracy,” Jatia says. “For example, if a court docket measures barely lower than the regulation dimension of 60 by 30 toes, say 54.6 toes, we make sure that gamers are knowledgeable about it.”
Within the close to future, Picklebay plans to increase from a discovery platform to incorporate real-time reserving options, permitting customers to order courts immediately, an important step towards constructing a transactional ecosystem.
The delivery of Picklebay
The concept for Picklebay emerged in late 2024, when Jatia, who comes from a 120-year-old enterprise household with expertise throughout healthcare, hospitality, and automotive sectors, encountered these challenges firsthand as a participant.
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Picklebay gamers
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Having began working on the age of 16 and explored a number of entrepreneurial ventures, Jatia had each the imaginative and prescient and drive to deal with the gaps he witnessed. A ten-month administration programme on the College of California, Berkeley, additional formed his perception in constructing scalable, tech-enabled platforms that clear up real-world issues.
Work on Picklebay started in October 2024, and after seven months of growth, the platform formally launched in Might 2025. Bootstrapped with an preliminary funding of Rs 1.5 crore, Picklebay began by addressing one of many sport’s most urgent wants: verified court docket discovery.
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Past digital options, Picklebay actively helps the event and upkeep of pickleball services. The corporate companions with faculties, lodges, actual property builders, and establishments to design and implement courts that adjust to world benchmarks.
“Recognising the significance of high quality infrastructure in shaping the game’s future, we’ve taken on the position of a trusted associate for facility growth. By means of strategic consulting and hands-on execution, we make sure that each court docket we assist construct helps each community-level engagement {and professional} play,” Jatia explains.
Consumer progress and market potential
Inside simply two months of its launch, Picklebay has over 1,100 registered customers, with metro cities like Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Kolkata displaying the strongest traction. Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad, and Ahmedabad are subsequent in line for enlargement.
“We began with round 250 customers in our first month, grew to over 750 within the second, and we’re now including customers at 70-80% month-on-month,” Jatia notes. “By the tip of 2025, our objective is to achieve 20,000 customers.”
In line with The CapTable, India’s pickleball courts grew from about 200 in early 2024 to over 1,200 at this time, with 3–4 new courts opening weekly in cities like Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, and Surat. With lively gamers anticipated to achieve 1 million by 2028 (a 1,500% rise), demand is projected to soar to 2,500 courts.
“We all know the challenges, restricted sponsorships, lack of media protection, however we’re constructing the inspiration now. This sport is inclusive, thrilling, and on the verge of a growth. Picklebay can be there to steer that progress,” Jatia provides.
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Event expertise and operations
Picklebay has constructed a customized event administration platform designed to automate all the course of, from digital registrations and fixture creation to stay scoring, development monitoring, and real-time outcomes.
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Picklebay event
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“Tournaments was irritating for each organisers and gamers. We wished to take away that frustration. Our system ensures that occasions run like clockwork. Gamers know precisely once they’re taking part in, and all the things is clear,” he says.
The expertise has already been deployed in Picklebay’s 10-city India Event Sequence 2025. Its occasions have drawn overwhelming participation, with over 400 gamers in Mumbai and 500 in Kolkata, together with 300+ singles and doubles registrations. “In Mumbai, the occasion even completed 10 minutes forward of schedule, one thing that not often occurs in Indian tournaments,” Jatia remembers.
Multi-channel income mannequin
Picklebay operates on a diversified monetisation technique spanning court docket bookings, event registrations, infrastructure consulting, company engagements, and neighborhood occasions. Event charges sometimes vary between Rs 1,000 and Rs 2,000 per participant, whereas model sponsorships from corporations like Gold’s Gymnasium, Bluetokai, SC Financial institution, and Draft Motors additional contribute to income.
“We’re nonetheless within the early phases of monetisation, however our mannequin is designed to scale throughout a number of touchpoints. Our retreats, occasions, and company leagues are already attracting curiosity from manufacturers that need to affiliate with this rising sport,” he says.
Group constructing and company engagement
Picklebay’s efforts transcend infrastructure and tournaments; neighborhood constructing is a core pillar of its technique. The platform is about to launch a devoted neighborhood characteristic, enabling gamers to create video games, join with companions of comparable talent ranges, and work together immediately with out counting on fragmented WhatsApp teams.
“We’ve outgrown WhatsApp teams,” Jatia says. “What gamers want is a digital house the place they’ll join, plan matches, and develop the neighborhood in an organised manner.”
To foster engagement, Picklebay organises social occasions like DJ breakfast video games and glow-in-the-dark pickleball nights. These initiatives have helped construct a neighborhood of over 1,300 lively customers in simply 2.5 months.
In July 2025, Picklebay additionally launched its company engagement programme, providing masterclasses by nationwide gamers, structured teaching classes, intra-corporate tournaments, and inter-company leagues.
“The great thing about pickleball is that it’s easy to be taught and doesn’t require enormous investments. Establishing a professional-grade court docket prices simply Rs 3-3.5 lakh, which makes it good for corporates,” Jatia notes.
Picklebay has additionally launched curated journey experiences that mix sport with leisure. Its first worldwide retreat, a 20-person journey to Phuket in August 2025, combines skilled teaching classes throughout the day with social experiences like night seashore golf equipment.
“Having performed the world over, I worth how professionally these occasions are managed right here — on-time matches, consideration to element, and expertise that retains all the things clear and accessible. It’s a platform that really understands what gamers want.” Vinay Sethia, India No. 12 (DUPR (Dynamic Common Pickleball Ranking) Rankings)
“Picklebay has redefined my expertise with the game in India. It’s not nearly discovering courts or gamers, it’s about how seamlessly all the things comes collectively, from data to event updates,” he provides.
Trying forward
The startup is getting ready to combine AI-driven options resembling automated talent categorisation (newbie, intermediate, superior), sensible participant matchmaking, and efficiency analytics based mostly on match historical past.
“We’re amassing information now to construct a better system. By the tip of 2025, AI will assist gamers discover equally expert companions and monitor their progress over time, making all the expertise extra aggressive and fascinating,” Jatia provides.
Picklebay’s 10-member core group contains seasoned professionals with over a decade of expertise in world sporting occasions such because the IPL, Australian Open, and World Cups — a testomony to its imaginative and prescient of constructing a structured, scalable pickleball ecosystem in India.
Globally, platforms like Courtroom Reserve, PodPlay, PicklePlay, World Pickleball Community, Membership Automation, PB360, and Gametime Hero dominate the pickleball administration and engagement house. Nevertheless, in India, such platforms are restricted. PickleBay primarily competes with organisations just like the All India Pickleball Affiliation (AIPA), World Pickleball League (WPBL), and regional initiatives resembling Konnect Pickleball.
“With Picklebay, our goal is to create an inclusive ecosystem the place gamers of all ranges really feel at house, making the sport accessible throughout cities and communities,” he concludes.
Edited by Affirunisa Kankudti
