A former skilled tennis participant and a software program engineer captivated with sports activities, each Romanians, have teamed as much as launch in London an app that helps racket sports activities gamers discover the precise companions.
In the summertime of 2019, Romanians Robert Rizea and Bogdan Demeny launched in London a free app geared toward serving to racket sports activities gamers discover the perfect companions for a sport of tennis, badminton, desk tennis, squash or padel.
The cell app, referred to as RacketPal, permits customers to go looking, talk about and manage matches with chosen companions primarily based on location, availability and ability degree. Within the quick time period, it would additionally embrace different choices akin to discovering a coach or reserving a venue.
To this point, the 2 co-founders invested round GBP 35,000 of their venture, with a lot of the cash getting used for the app’s licenses and software program. Additionally, a small half was invested in paid advertising and marketing for the acquisition of customers.
“On the similar time, maybe an important funding was that of the time we spent along with the RacketPal staff to create and develop the app. Your entire staff, which presently has seven lively members, voluntarily dedicate a part of their spare time for this venture,” firm representatives informed Romania-insider.com.
The app proved to be fairly standard amongst Londoners, gathering to date over 10,000 customers keen to seek out the precise sports activities companions. Gamers within the RacketPal neighborhood have already exchanged greater than 30,000 messages and arranged over 5,000 matches. This yr, the 2 entrepreneurs wish to improve the person base to over 50,000 in London alone.
In the long term, the principle purpose is “to draw sturdy enterprise and organizational companions that can enable the creation of a singular digital area, the place your entire world of favourite sports activities shall be within the pocket of world customers, one click on away,” the corporate’s representatives mentioned.
In different phrases, the startup plans to broaden to different sports activities as effectively. Thus, the subsequent step shall be to prepare a financing spherical, which might assist the startup develop a stronger staff and create “the biggest sports activities neighborhood platform.”
“We’re additionally getting nearer to the primary spherical of angel funding the place we wish to increase round GBP 150,000, funds that shall be used solely for staff enlargement, product enchancment, and advertising and marketing. This primary spherical of investments will give us the possibility to spend much more time and assets to meet the mission and imaginative and prescient of RacketPal,” the co-founders defined.
RacketPal is accessible in each Google Play and App Retailer. It may possibly presently be downloaded and used without cost by customers from everywhere in the world, together with these in Romania. Nonetheless, the app is accessible solely in English.
“The brand new options, particularly these that can assist monetize the applying, shall be constructed within the London/British context to keep up a transparent focus. Throughout this time, the RacketPal app will proceed to be obtainable globally, and the precise growth at European Union degree, with Romania on the high of the listing, will certainly be certainly one of our priorities,” the Romanian entrepreneurs mentioned.
For the Romanian market, they plan to create a product with an interface in Romanian language and with use choices devoted on to the beginner sports activities neighborhood in Romania.
“In a world that’s continuously shifting and at all times on the run, RacketPal would be the best and simplest method to discover your excellent tennis, working or boxing accomplice in just some seconds, serving to you keep lively and wholesome,” Bogdan Demeny, RacketPal co-founder and CTO, mentioned.
Meet the founders
Robert Rizea (RacketPal co-founder and CEO) is a a number of nationwide champion in tennis, a former No.1 in Romania in varied age classes, who additionally had a notable presence within the European High 10. With over 100 tournaments gained, he obtained a full scholarship for examine and sports activities within the U.S., on the Mercyhurst College in Pennsylvania. That’s when he began to develop a ardour for enterprise and advertising and marketing, and now he additionally has a grasp’s diploma in Advertising Administration from London Enterprise College.
Robert Rizea gained an eight-year expertise from working for startups and firms, amongst them Adecco, Millward Brown and Bark.
Subsequently, RacketPal was the apparent subsequent step for Rizea, as this manner he managed to mix the fervour for sports activities with entrepreneurship. He’s now in command of the strategic and business a part of the corporate.
Bogdan Demeny (RacketPal co-founder and CTO) graduated from the College of Arithmetic and Pc Science on the College of Transylvania, in Brasov, with the right rating. He was within the sixth grade when he constructed his first web site, after which he continued to develop web sites and cell apps for associates. This helped him construct a profitable tutorial {and professional} profession.
Bogdan Demeny moved to London in 2015, the place he labored as a software program engineer within the monetary, e-commerce, style, prop-tech, on-line gaming, and pure assets sectors. However he additionally favored the thought of a startup, so he moved in direction of this a part of the enterprise surroundings as effectively. As a advisor, he has already helped 5 startups develop their technical methods and processes and develop their first MVPs. Throughout this time, he additionally launched over ten cell apps for iOS and Android platforms.
However Demeny, a former soccer referee, can be a passionate squash participant. At RacketPal, he’s chargeable for the technical facet of making certain its correct functioning.
Irina Marica, [email protected]
(Opening photograph: ID 97031200 © Wavebreakmedia Ltd/Dreamstime.com)