[Exclusive] Endiya Partners launches sports tournaments for India’s startup ecosystem

How are reflection, resilience, and perseverance connected? These qualities are important in both entrepreneurship and sports. Whether you are building a startup or competing in a sport, a never-say-die attitude, the ability to work as a team, to learn from setbacks, and the desire to go the extra mile to achieve success is needed. 

This is why many elite sportspersons often end up taking the entrepreneurial route later in their lives. Legends like Michael Jordan, David Beckham, Tony Hawk, Serena Williams, and Maria Sharapova have all ventured into the business world after a successful career in sports. Closer home, we have Anil Kumble with Dev Musco Lighting, Virat Kohli with One8 and Universal Sportbiz, and Yuvraj Singh with YouWeCan and KOCA, among others. 

“Sports teaches you to perform under pressure, stay disciplined, and constantly improve—qualities every founder needs. Whether it’s a match, or a product launch, you’re adapting in real-time, reading your environment, and relying on your team. What matters the most is the mindset—the ability to show up every day, stay focused, and give your best effort, no matter the outcome,” says Pullela Gopichand, former Indian badminton player and Chief National Coach for the India National Badminton team, in an exclusive conversation with YS  Life. He is also a trustee board member of Endiya Partners. 

With this in mind, early-stage Venture Capital firm Endiya Partners has teamed up with the Pullela Gopichand Badminton Academy to launch Game On!—a first-of-its-kind sports tournament exclusively for the Indian startup ecosystem. The initiative aims to promote wellbeing, build resilience, and cultivate leadership within the ever-competitive startup ecosystem. 

“Consistency, what elite athletes refer to as ‘training mentality’, is everything in the early days of building a company,” says Sateesh Andra, Managing Director of Endiya Partners. Andra himself has previously played table tennis at a competitive level.

The Game On! tournament will kick off in Bengaluru’s Lakshyan Academy of Sports on June 6 and 7, featuring badminton, table tennis, and box cricket. Talking about the selection of sports, Andra explains: “They’re inclusive, fast-paced, and familiar. They allow for a mix of competition and camaraderie. Most importantly, they reflect real startup dynamics—sharp focus, constant coordination, and quick decision-making. You can’t win alone.” 

Following its debut in Bengaluru, Endiya Partners will be organising tournaments a couple of times each year in Mumbai and Delhi, with possible tournaments in Hyderabad and Chennai later in the year. The VC firm will be charging a nominal participation fee from startups.

Need of the hour

Building a startup is intense. It involves putting in long hours in a high-pressure environment, with little room for recharging or the guarantee of success. 

Over the last five years, the intense pressure of building in a hyper-competitive landscape has taken a toll on many founders. The untimely passing of entrepreneurs such as Amit Banerji, Co-founder, Table Space; Rohan Mirchandani, Co-founder, Epigamia; Rohan Malhotra, Co-founder, Good Capital; and Ambareesh Murty, Co-founder, Pepperfry—often due to cardiac arrest—highlights the health risks associated with high work pressure and chronic stress. Reports suggest that prolonged stress can significantly impact one’s physical and mental health. 

A study by mental health startup YourDOST, titled ‘Emotional Wellbeing of Entrepreneurs 2024’, suggested that close to 31% of Indian entrepreneurs have imposter syndrome due to high pressure to perform well in early stages. 

“Nobody knows the reason—is it stress, a sedentary lifestyle, or our genes? While we cannot pinpoint, we felt that it’d do good to get out of work and play in an informal setting,” says Andra.  

Endiya Partners, which has invested in Cult.fit, Darwinbox, ekincare, Sig Tuple, and Sugar.fit, among others, believes in enabling the third-wave of Indian entrepreneurs—startups that build scalable products. However, “We have always believed that sustaining performance requires more than capital—it requires balance,” Andra says. 

“Healthier founders build stronger companies, and we see wellbeing as a long-term investment,” he adds. 

A study by Saybrook University suggests that participating in sports significantly lowers anxiety and depression. 

“Athletes spend years preparing for moments that are over in minutes. Founders do the same in many ways…You win some, you lose some, but you show up and give your best. That mindset, showing up with focus, composure, and discipline is exactly what the operational grind of a startup demands. It’s training for the head and the heart,” Andra tells YS Life. 

By encouraging physical activity, peer bonding, and emotional reset, Game On! aims to incorporate sustainable habits into the startup culture. 

A sharp player makes a sharp founder 

Recognising the challenges, several wellness companies in India offer programmes tailored specifically for startup founders, addressing physical and mental health challenges associated with the competitive landscape. 

For instance, the Heartfulness Startup Forum and Retreat 2025 held at the Kanha Shanti Vanam in Hyderabad earlier this year, brought together entrepreneurs, founders, and industry stakeholders for a retreat, comprising keynotes, workshops, and wellness activities. It focused on fostering emotional resilience and encouraging a heart-centered approach to leadership. “It brought attention to mindfulness and reflection,” Andra says, and Endiya’s latest sporting initiative builds on that. 

Speaking of what sets Game On! apart from other existing programmes, he says, “It is one thing to talk about wellbeing, but it is another to see a founder step away from the desk without guilt, or a team make space for rest without seeing it as a lost time.”

Talking from an investors’ point of view, Andra emphasises that a sporting event like Game On! reveals characteristics and dimensions of entrepreneurs that are rarely uncovered during formal meetings. “You begin to notice how a person navigates setbacks, how they communicate under pressure, and how they respond when a teammate needs support. These observations give insight into leadership that are otherwise hard to assess,” he says. 

Agrees Gopichand. Like sports, he says, founders need to train every day with purpose and the culture builds from there—teams learn to trust each other through shared effort, clear goals and honest feedback. He believes that when entrepreneurs value preparation, stay calm under pressure, and hold themselves to the same standards that they ask of others, automatically the rest of the team will follow.

An All England Badminton Champion, Gopichad says he meditates to build resilience. “It helps me reset, stay grounded, and maintain clarity,” he says. 

Speaking of entrepreneurs, he says that India’s next generation of founders stand out for their clarity and energy. However, they miss in time to pause. “In sport, recovery is not separate from performance. Building something meaningful also requires moments to step back, to reflect on why you are doing it and how you are doing it. That is why I value efforts like Game On!, it gives people in the ecosystem a space to connect beyond roles and goals. These moments may seem small, but they help people return with more focus, more balance and a deeper sense of purpose,” he concludes.