Our Founding Story

Why We Built AfterSport

There's a moment every athlete meets. Not in a stadium. Not on court. In silence.

No physio bookings. No invites. No "sir, can you come for this event?" The same world that once knew your match schedule by heart suddenly doesn't remember your name.

And if you're one of the lucky ones - if you were successful - the story is stranger.

When you're playing, money comes in from everywhere. Prize money. Sponsorships. Match fees. Camps. League contracts. Appearance gigs. Sometimes you don't even know what's coming from where.

So you spend. Not because you're careless - because your life is a full-contact sport. You're traveling, recovering, training, competing. Nobody sits you down and teaches you compounding, tax, insurance, scams, or how short careers actually are.

You weren't building wealth. You were burning fuel.

For most athletes, it's worse.

Because the "successful athlete" is the exception. The rule is the 99%.

The 99% are the state champions, the national qualifiers, the district legends, the players who trained for a decade and never got the big league contract. Many retire with no degree, no job skills, no industry experience - nothing to translate their discipline into a second career. They look for coaching jobs not because it's their calling, but because it's the only door that's even half-open.

India's most respected coach, Pullela Gopichand, has publicly warned families about the risks of pursuing sport without financial backing - because the system doesn't catch you when you fall.

Everyone funds athletes to play. No one funds them to live.

Anup stood on badminton's biggest stages: Arjuna Awardee, Olympian, former India #1. He captained the Thomas Cup team and defeated Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat at the 2007 World Championships - one of those matches people still talk about.

But what stayed with him wasn't applause.

It was a phone call, years later, from a former teammate - someone who had represented India - asking if Anup knew of any job openings. The man had medals in a drawer and nothing in the bank.

That call never left him.

Prashanth saw it from a different seat - as a tech founder building AI for fintech, and as the owner of the Bangalore Raptors. He kept asking: if AI can transform financial services for everyone else, why are athletes still left with nothing?

Praveen had built sport's scaffolding from the inside - brands, training infrastructure, communities. He'd seen exactly where the system quietly breaks. He joined because he's tired of watching athletes fall through cracks that shouldn't exist.

Athletes don't need motivation. They have that in excess. They need a system that doesn't vanish when the spotlight moves.

So we built one.

The Founders

Anup Sridhar

Olympian | Arjuna Awardee | Former India #1

"I watched teammates retire with medals in a drawer and nothing in the bank."

Prashanth Reddy

Cofounder, Payman AI | Owner, Bangalore Raptors

"Why does your net worth need to be in crores to access a financial advisor 24/7?"

Praveen Reddy

Founder, Instasport | Former CEO, Li-Ning India

"We've seen the system fail athletes too many times."

Be part of the story.

Back This Mission Apply as an Athlete