HowdyDo gets Rs.2 crore funding from TIW Private Equity

HowdyDo! – a Neighbourhood Sports Social Networking Platform for funding or hosting sporting events, sports classes/coaches, forming teams, finding sports partners integrated with HowdyDo Messenger, has clinched Rs.2 crore worth investment from TIW Private Equity based out of Delhi. TIW Private Equity will be given 10% stake in the company. TIW Private Equity will initially invest Rs.1 crore in Howdy Ventures Private Limited with an additional option to invest Rs.1 crore in future. Xavier Britto, Chairman, Kerry Indev Logistics and Howdy Ventures, has also agreed to infuse more capital, as and when needed.

HowdyDo was launched in 2017 with a vision to change the sports landscape in India. “Global sports market is worth $800 billion. India’s sports market is currently worth $3-5 billion and is expected to grow in leaps and bounds. India has won 24 Olympic Medals in 28 Olympic Games held since 1900. We want to change this by focusing on Neighbourhood Sports,” said S.K. Choudhury, Director, Howdy Ventures Pvt. Ltd.

“One can be a fantastic sports person, but they fail to get noticed. Recognition is the key to success. The ‘likes’ in the HowdyDo platform can help get the recognition needed. Our aim is to promote sports at the grassroots level. In HowdyDo, we have brought every aspect of sports and made it local to your neighbourhood. Find a class or a coach, form a team, find sporting events, find partners for your gym, running or tennis in your neighbourhood or how about that local event played in your locality. The cool part is we have integrated social networking and messenger to every aspect of our application. Our messenger is capable of having 1 lac people in a group with conference calling and conference video calling. Although everyone aspires to be a Tendulkar or Mary Kom, first you have to win a local medal in your school or college, then your locality, city, your district and then your state and nationals,” said Sudhakar Raja, CEO, Howdy Ventures.

Xavier Britto, Chairman, Kerry Indev Logistics, with interests in hospitality, education and sports and also the Chairman of Howdy Ventures, said, “With India gearing up for many more multi sports events lined up in our country like Indian Premier League (Cricket), Hockey Indian League, Indian Super League( Soccer), Indian Badminton League, Pro Kabaddi League and Premier Futsal. There’s been a seismic shift of interest in Indian sports in a big way attracting mass fan following. It has brought tremendous potential to invest in sports and garner huge returns in this segment. We see a great potential in HowdyDo! and we are going to continue our support with additional funding as and when required”

Harry Lagard, Director in Howdy Ventures, and on the board of First Flight Couriers, RCI Logistics, Nokia and Tron Infra Solutions (A Smartron company), said, “We welcome TIW on board for investing in this Howdy Ventures, money raised will be utilized for further marketing spend to boost visibility of HowdyDo. HowdyDo, an innovation from India will expand rapidly with global aspirations”.

Khirodkumar Jena, a Director in Howdy Ventures, and Chairman World Odia Convention and Angel Investor, said, “Sports in India requires to be rebooted. HowdyDo will bring out the talented sports people. It is not only for sports players but also the fans. We are also looking at helping the underprivileged sports persons by helping them get funded to move to the next level.”

Anurag Joshi of TWI Private Equity stated, “We always stay focused on investing in diversified fields which will yield us maximum returns with growth. We foresee a lot of potential in this market and HowdyDo is poised to play a major role as an early mover. HowdyDo’s Privacy Protection where user’s phone number and email are masked will be a game-changer. India requires a Sports Game Changer like HowdyDo to grow the sports base in India. TIW will be a stepping stone in HowdyDo’s success journey.”