Spotlight: Gamatics Brings Online Swim Shop to India


gamatics

When Santosh Patil and Shantala Bhat’s son took up competitive swimming, they had no idea that it would lead to a business opportunity. But their son’s swimming led them to connect with Paralympian Sharath Gayakwad and Margaret John Christopher, wife of swimming coach John Christopher.

The four of them began discussing the needs of athletes, particularly swimmers. Their startup, Gamatics, was born.

Gamatics is the only exclusively online swim store in India, according to the company. Read more about the founders’ journey and the company in this week’s Small Business Spotlight.

What the Business Does

Sells swimming wear and gear for serious swimmers.

The website’s offerings include items like swimwear, goggles, bags, flotation devices and more.

Business Niche

Providing analytics and nutritional solutions to athletes.

Along with the swim gear that the company sells on its website, Gamatics also aims to provide helpful resources to swimmers and other athletes. The team is currently gathering a large selection of sports nutritionists to list on its website.

gamatics screen

How the Business Got Started

Through connections at a swimming pool.

When Patil and Bhat’s son got involved in swimming, they decided to take him to the PM Swimming Pool Jayanagar. Both Gayakwad and Christopher were heavily involved there. And as the group began discussing different solutions to swimming and athletic issues, it grew into a pilot program for the other pool members to try out Gamatics’ future offerings.

Biggest Win

Successfully launching the ecommerce site.

Co–founder and CEO Shantala Bhat told Small Business Trends:

“We have successfully processed around 300 orders, during pilot program. We have identified well known swim brands and are working closely with them to get their product listed under our website. This will make us the portal with large number of well known brands.”

Lesson Learned

Cater specifically to the sports community.

The business and sports communities do have their differences. But the Gamatics team has been able to effectively cater to athletes by zeroing in on what’s most important to them. Bhat explains:

“Punctuality, openness, dedication, direct communication are their strengths and that makes it easy for us to work with them! All that we need to do is bring and show the real value.”

How They’d Spend an Extra $100,000

Get more top brands to sell their items with Gamatics.

gamatics

Personal Accomplishment

Gayakwad’s swimming medals.

Bhat says, “Our founder Sharath Gayakwad, a paraolympian, has been awarded the prestigious Arjuna Award on 29th August 2015 for winning 100+medals in swimming.”

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Find out more about the Small Biz Spotlight program.

Images: Gamatics; Top image: Mr Sharath Gayakwad, Co-founder, Para Olympian Swimmer, Arjuna Awardee (Awarded by President of India for Excellence in Sports); Mr Santosh Patil,  Co-Founder and Director of Gamatics; Master Utkarsh Patil, 10 year old National swimmer and son of Mr Santosh and Shantala Bhat; Mrs Shantala Bhat, Co-founder and CEO of Gamatics

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Annie Pilon Annie Pilon is a Senior Staff Writer for Small Business Trends, covering entrepreneur profiles, interviews, feature stories, community news and in-depth, expert-based guides. When she’s not writing she can be found exploring all that her home state of Michigan has to offer.

2 Reactions
  1. This goes to show that as long as there is a target market and a compelling need, a business can be born. In fact, it can even prosper if there’s not enough competition. It is all about positioning.