Rooter is Inching Closer to Half a Million User Mark
Rooter is a sports social gaming platform that connects sports fans and engages them during Live sports matches. Rooter offers unique Live match prediction game across 7 sports and enables a Live chat forum where fans interact during Live matches with Live scores and commentary. It provides a seamless mix of gaming, conversations and Live scores. Rooter was started by Piyush (Founder & CEO) and Akshat Goel (Co-founder & CTO) in Sept 2016 and now engages more than 3 lacs sports fans across 7 sports- Cricket, Football, Tennis, Basketball, Kabaddi, Badminton, and F1. Piyush Kumar was named as a contender to the BW Disrupt 40 Under 40 list in 2017.
In an interaction with BW Disrupt, Piyush Kumar talked about his venture.
Success mantra - Sports is a category driven by passion. Every stakeholder of this industry — player, fan, organiser is passionate and hardworking. I play sports five days a week, follow more than 10 sports as a fan and now also run a sports company that’s looking at changing the dynamics of this industry.
The driving force behind your journey - Everyone in this world has come to serve a purpose. My purpose in life was to bring a change in the life of a sports fan. A fan is the strongest element in sports ecosystem and yet is never given its due. Technology today has the power to bring people together. And if it can connect sports fans around the world seamlessly, we are talking about a much happier and fun-filled world.
Business advice - Product is the hero. We are creating a social product that is connecting people using smartphones. When I started working on the idea of Rooter, I met a lot of potential investors and entrepreneurs early in my journey. They all told me that the idea is nothing without an execution. And the product is the most important aspect of any business.
Tips for budding entrepreneurs - Work very hard on the idea with respect to market fit and most importantly how will your business make money.
Government support - The startup registration process is so simple and faster now. The new cost reduction of patents is very encouraging for tech startups. There are also a lot of startup fests and events that are organised by the government to encourage startups in smaller towns and also introduce them to global investors. I, however, feel that, just like how it is done in many other countries, few tax benefits and other incubation help to startups should be offered.
The team - The difference between a good and bad product is the team mostly. It is impossible to travel the path from an idea to a good market-fit product without a team that is as passionate and excited about the idea as founders.
The inspiration - Deepinder Goyal of Zomato. The company has changed the way we eat at home or outside. Also, Harsha Bhogle. He has not only changed the way people look at broadcasting as a career but also helped cricket become even bigger over the years.
The next step - Rooter is inching closer to half a million user mark and we have learnt a lot in the past 14 months to present a better product to sports fans in India. We have built features such as Prediction Games and Live chat forums over seven different sports. We are now working to connect fans online and offline. We already work with seven teams and want to start working with global teams soon.
