Kerala-based sports technology startup Dartle has raised $100,000 in seed funding led by Inflection Point Ventures (IPV), as the company looks to expand its presence in the United States and add more artificial intelligence capabilities to its platform for youth sports and football academies.
The startup plans to use the fresh capital to strengthen its go-to-market operations, accelerate its US expansion and deepen AI integrations across its software platform. It also plans to increase engagement with sports academies and other ecosystem partners as it expands internationally.
Founded by Nihal Pradeep, Swathi Krishnan and Nagaraj R Potti, Dartle operates a vertical B2B software-as-a-service platform designed to bring several functions used by sports academies onto a single system. These include scheduling, academy operations, player performance analytics and parent engagement.
The platform is aimed at replacing fragmented processes involving spreadsheets, messaging applications and other manual tools. Dartle says its technology can reduce administrative workload for academies by up to 75%. The company is also using performance tracking and athlete data to help academies monitor player development. The efficiency figure is a company-reported claim.
Dartle currently works with 14 academies across India, the Middle East, Nepal and the US. The American market is becoming a key part of its expansion strategy, with the company currently running eight paid pilots in the country.
The startup has also secured a $60,000 sponsorship agreement with MLS NEXT. According to the company, its average contract value has increased from $15,000 to $33,000 as it expands its product and customer base.
The company is backed by SaaS accelerator Upekkha and has also been recognised by NSRCEL at IIM Bangalore.
Over the next year, Dartle plans to onboard more than 100 sports academies globally and is targeting annual recurring revenue of nearly $1 million. AI is expected to play a larger role in the product as the company develops additional data-led capabilities for managing athletes and academy operations.
The funding comes as sports organisations increasingly adopt software platforms for administration, performance tracking and athlete engagement. For Dartle, the immediate focus will be on converting its US pilots into longer-term customers while expanding its technology platform across international youth sports markets.
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