Multisport youth development platform SFL raises Rs 21.57 crore from Fireside Ventures, others

SFL (Sports for Life), a multisport youth development platform, has raised Rs 21.57 crore in a Series A funding round led by Fireside Ventures and Genesia Ventures, with participation from existing investors Roots Ventures, TDV Partners, and others.

Co-founded by Sourjyendu Medda and Armaan Tandon, SFL’s integrated model spans academies, leagues, and a technology layer that personalises development pathways. The startup's AI first performance platform captures training and match data to surface personalised learning plans, progress dashboards, and decision support for coaches.

Its product roadmap includes computervision powered livestreaming, automated highlights, and match analytics to create objective feedback loops for players and parents alike.

The startup will use the raised capital to enter additional geographies, expand bestinclass multisport academies, strengthen coaching capabilities, add new sports, and deepen the technology platform with richer performance insights, livestreaming, communication features, and monitoring systems.

“With our existing investors, Fireside and Genesia by our side, we’re building a youth sports ecosystem that families can trust for the next decade—not just the next season,” said Sourjyendu Medda, Cofounder & CEO, SFL.

“This investment helps us bring structured, highquality sports closer to every neighborhood and to every child who deserves a chance to play, learn, and grow—while keeping quality, consistency, and safety at the core.”

In the coming year, SFL plans to enter Bengaluru and the NCR, onboard 10,000 additional children into its academies and 20,000 into its tournaments, and expand its portfolio from seven to twelve sports, with Cricket slated for launch soon.

“India has a clear and pressing need for structured, highquality grassroots sports programs, and SFL is addressing this with remarkable clarity and execution,” said Dipanjan Basu, Cofounder, Fireside Ventures.

“Strong parent demand, high retention, and consistent neighborhoodlevel trust, combined with coaching excellence, technology, community engagement, and robust safeguarding- position SFL to become India’s leading youth sports platform.”

Shun Sagara, Country Director of India, Genesia Ventures, added, “SFL exemplifies how a consumerfocused, techenabled sports development platform will shape the future of youth development in India. The model scales seamlessly while maintaining the quality and safety parents value most. With strong productmarket fit, SFL is building meaningful pathways for children to grow, play, and thrive.”

Ravinder Vashist, Co-Founder, Roots Ventures, said, “We are doubling down on SFL because the strength of the business model and the clarity of execution are evident. The scalability, operational discipline, and depth of consumer conviction we’ve seen are rare at this stage, and it is clear that SFL is solving a real market need.”