Angolan startup Balus has developed cloud-based tournament software that helps with organising registrations, brackets, teams, matches, coaches and athletes, making the running of sports events more efficient.
Formed at the end of 2017 and made available to users last month, Balus is an online for platform for organising tournaments and leagues, removing the need for pen, paper and spreadsheets.
With Balus, tournament organisers can handle the registration process, as well as manage seasons and track statistics and results. Additionally, it handles all background screening, meaning everyone from the smallests sports clubs to governing bodies is able to use its platform.
“Balus was created out of the need to find reliable and trustworthy information about the history of athletes, academies and teams, and tournaments,” co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Avelino Kiala told Disrupt Africa.
Kiala and his team already had experience of arranging Brazilian Jiu Jitsu tournaments, and so launched Balus with an initial focus on that sport. Within a month of launching, the angel-backed startup already has 450 subscriptions, and is targeting 1,200 subscriptions by May 2019.
Balus, which makes money from these subscriptions and advertising, does have plans to expand beyond the relatively niche world of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, however, as well as into other markets.
“For the first stage we are going to start with combat sports. By 2020 we plan to explore the Portuguese and South African markets, and in 2022 we plan to include other sports such as football, basketball and handball,” Kiala said.
