Playtomic, world’s largest racket sports community and management software for racket sports, announced it has acquired its Portuguese counterpart AirCourts, the leading sports reservation and club management platform in Portugal for an undisclosed sum.
Founded in 2015 to give players easier access to sports, AirCourts grew to become the leading sports booking App in Portugal, with a focus on tennis and padel. AirCourts empowers more than 350 clubs with reservation and club management software in combination with a marketplace to bring new customers through the door. Often referred to as the “booking.com of sports”, AirCourts’ App helps 500,000 registered players to discover the best local sports venues in Portugal and instantly book a court.
The acquisition will give Playtomic a strong foothold in Portugal, particularly in the padel market where AirCourts currently has 87% of the clubs. This deal will allow the Spanish company to introduce its innovative technology and expand upon AirCourts’ established presence to unlock new growth opportunities. The AirCourts team, led by Andre Duarte and Pedro Pessanha, will join Playtomic and will continue to drive expansion efforts in Portugal.
Headquartered in Madrid since 2017, Playtomic has scaled exponentially with the rise in popularity of Padel, and currently has 4,800+ racket clubs across 49 countries and more than 1 Million monthly active users.
Recently the company raised €56 million in a funding round led by GP Bullhound, the London-based investment firm that financed some of Europe’s most prominent startups including Revolut and Klarna. Playtomic has carried out a series of acquisitions of racket sports platforms in the past two years in order to create positive network effects for players and clubs.
“This acquisition represents a strategic step for Playtomic that will strengthen our position and leadership in the tennis and padel market in Europe.”, says Felix Ruiz, co-founder and co-CEO of Playtomic. “I believe that it will also add great value to the entire racket community in Portugal, improving the experience of clubs and players; Playtomic makes padel a sport within everyone’s reach and offers the player the opportunity to find people of their level to play with”, Ruiz added.
“By joining forces, we’ll be able to leverage Playtomic’s technology to offer new solutions that solve our customers’ biggest challenges. Like AirCourts, improving the lives of club owners and players are embedded in Playtomic’s DNA. This affirms my belief that partnering with Playtomic is the right step for AirCourts, our employees, and most importantly, our customers,” says Andre Duarte, founder and CEO of AirCourts.
“Since day one, our top priority has been to improve the lives of club owners and players. I am confident that our acquisition by Playtomic will advance that mission while securing the legacy we have built over the last 8 years,” added Pedro Pessanha, COO of AirCourts.
Read the orginal article: https://www.eu-startups.com/2023/05/madrid-based-playtomic-hits-the-ace-by-acquiring-portuguese-competitor-aircourts/
