{"id":165052,"date":"2025-06-07T13:24:32","date_gmt":"2025-06-07T13:24:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/165052\/"},"modified":"2025-06-07T13:24:32","modified_gmt":"2025-06-07T13:24:32","slug":"exclusive-how-6-students-transformed-b-school-project-into-a-mega-pickleball-brand-serve-club-in-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/165052\/","title":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE: How 6 Students Transformed B School Project Into A Mega Pickleball Brand SERVE CLUB In India"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Serve<\/p>\n

The six students of TETR College of Business who established the Serve Club pickleball brand in India. Photo: Serve Club\/Instagram <\/p>\n

In the buzzing courts of Rackonnect Exclusive Padel Pickle Park (REPPP) in South Delhi, where the crackling thwack of pickleball<\/a> echoes off the walls, six young dreamers with a tabletop booth came to craft a new story. They are not just students in their late teens; they are co-founders, visionaries in the making.Andrea, Jeet Totla, Antariksh Gupta, Joan Escandell, Fiene Klemmer, and Sofia Rodriguez – hailing from the US, India, Cuba, Germany, and Mexico, respectively – came together at TETR College of Business<\/a>, headquartered in New York, post the Covid-19 pandemic with one thing in mind: to develop skills to make new-age business. And they eventually turned to pickleball and made it into an experience that is as much about community as it is about sport.\u201cWe saw the rise of it in America,\u201d Andrea, 20, told Pickleball Now<\/a> on the sidelines of the recently concluded LawStrings Pickleball Premier League (LPPL). \u201cOne of the things I love most about pickleball is how it brings people together.\u201d <\/p>\n

Pickleball is not just about paddles and nets; it is about competition, connection, and camaraderie. That spirit has carried them halfway across the world to India, where Andrea, Joan, and Jeet have been since January, studying, listening, researching, and building from scratch with a focus on making the country their core market, leveraging pickleball\u2019s skyrocketing popularity. And this simple yet nuanced intent has made them stand out.<\/p>\n

\"Andrea\"Andrea, one of the founders of SERVE CLUB at REPPP, South Delhi. Photo: Sudipta Biswas\/Pickleball Now<\/p>\n

Their jovial nature, willingness to engage amateur players, and eagerness to answer endless questions from over-enthusiastic parents and players make them a distinct entity in the Indian scenario. They have been to hundreds of tournaments so far in their pursuit of engaging with potential future customers while also making a physical brand presence.<\/p>\n

Their company, Serve Club<\/a>, was born in the classroom of TETR as a project, but it quickly became a promising pickleball startup in India, with the potential to challenge the monopoly of legacy brands like JOOLA. \u201cWe did not just want to build a random company,\u201d said 19-year-old Jeet, who hails from Delhi. \u201cWe want to build a proper brand which is well recognised. At the same time, we have always kept it very community-driven.\u201d <\/p>\n

Brand of Serve Club <\/strong><\/p>\n

Pickleball in India is still finding its feet, but Serve Club is there to catch the ball. The sextet saw an opportunity in the market gap – a chasm between low-quality beginner paddles and prohibitively expensive pro gear – and chipped in. \u201cThere is a pretty big gap between just high-quality but affordable, like intermediate paddles,\u201d Andrea explained. \u201cAnd so that is where we came in.\u201d<\/p>\n

They launched two lines: a beginner fiberglass paddle at Rs 3,000 and a carbon fiber pro paddle at Rs 8,000. And a pack of four pickleballs goes for Rs 656. They are not only offering cheaper paddles but are also diligent in their approach to manufacturing. <\/p>\n

The idea is precise: every paddle is crafted with care and consultation. \u201cWe talked to a lot of players, whom we met at pickleball events. We noted their feedbacks and came up with customised paddles for Indians,\u201d she added. \u201cA lot of people, especially in India, prefer a longer handle\u2026 It also gives you longer reach.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"ServeServe Club\u2019s customised paddles for Indian pickleball players on display at REPPP, South Delhi. Photo: Sudipta Biswas\/Pickleball Now.<\/p>\n

From the very onset, they have been open-minded in their approach, bringing their learning from TETR into effect and always evaluating the changing scenarios and incorporating the inputs into their actions. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we do research, a lot of people said that they seek simpler designs but with brighter colors. So, our fiberglass paddles are very minimalistic. They have hardly any design, and they are just plain colors. We have one black, one white, another black, and then one pink and one blue – so pretty light.<\/p>\n

And I think the response has been pretty good. I think we\u2019re like a very fun, cool brand,\u201d Andrea said, providing a glimpse into how strong customer research is giving an impetus to their business goals.<\/p>\n

Hence, Serve Club is not just a business – it is a living, breathing part of the Indian pickleball community. They host events, help officiate matches and clinics. They also optimise the power of social media, with a dedicated presence on Instagram. To foster growth, they stay at the core of the community by partnering with pickleball courts, clubs, and competitions.<\/p>\n

“We share tips on the group about how to play pickleball, as well as news about what is happening in the pickleball industry in India and America. I think that is one way we interact with customers – through events, seeing them, talking to them, and then through social media and WhatsApp, getting jobs done,” said Joan, the senior-most member of Serve Club at 21.<\/p>\n

“We have been around in India for almost six months now, and we are doing quite well on social media. I think in the last 30 days, we have reached more than a quarter of a million impressions. Yeah, we are getting a lot of traction and very positive feedback from people,” he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think first of all, pickleball is a very community-focused sport,\u201d the Cuban said. \u201cWe are not just selling paddles; we are selling an experience, a community kind of thing.\u201d The startup now plans to grow monthly sales by 20\u201325 per cent over the next two quarters.<\/p>\n

\"JOANJoan (left) and Jeet pose for a photograph with the Serve Club paddles at REPPP, South Delhi. Photo: Sudipta Biswas\/Pickleball Now.<\/p>\n

They know they are newcomers, up against legacy giants. But their strategy is grounded in something bigger than numbers. \u201cWe are kind of competing with some of the biggest legacy racket sport brands like JOOLA,\u201d Jeet said. \u201cThe good thing is, because we are present in person, in front of people\u2026 we try to build a relationship with them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Landing the Funding <\/strong><\/p>\n

Their journey has had its share of challenges. Six founders from six different cultures of the world, each bringing their own ideas, their own fire. \u201cThere are constructive challenges,\u201d Jeet admitted. \u201cBut that is also the good part\u2026 we build upon it.\u201d Their story is as much about learning from each other as it is about selling paddles. While the US remains the fastest-growing pickleball market, with the sport registering a 311 per cent growth in the country, the competition is also high.<\/p>\n

Since their college project transformed into a full-fledged pickleball company, they have been bootstrapping this dream, every penny from their own pockets, with technical inputs and support from their mentors at TETR, but they were not daunted. \u201cWe are serious about making this a cutting-edge business,\u201d Joan emphasised. \u201cOurs is a B to C brand in the pickleball space in India,\u201d he added, \u201cand soon we will be on Amazon as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their ambitious project and holistic approach have eventually secured them seed funding from notable industry leaders including Manish Poddar (Co-founder, Rare Rabbit), Pratham Mittal (Founder, Masters’ Union and TETR), and Malika Sadani (Co-founder, The Moms Co.). The funding will be deployed toward product development and expanding Serve Club’s reach across India through both online and offline channels.<\/p>\n

While India is the launchpad and their prime focus as a market, with the country\u2019s pickleball market, according to Bonafide Research, projected to grow at over 26 per cent CAGR from 2024 to 2029, they are vowing to expand their presence to Southeast Asia and the Middle East in the next six months.<\/p>\n

Asked why they are so confident about pickleball’s growth across the Asian regions, Andrea says it is a heady mix: ambition and purpose, friendship and competition. In her words, it is \u201cjust very easy to hit the ball, but also very, very competitive\u2026 it brings everybody together.\u201d In that sense, Serve Club\u2019s story is not just about pickleball or semester project – it is about a new generation of entrepreneurs, building something that matters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The six students of TETR College of Business who established the Serve Club pickleball brand in India. Photo:…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":165053,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3094],"tags":[324,6207,69150,69152,69170,51,1117,12711,53548,3134,69165,69164,1824,69163,730,459,69160,69151,69159,69153,69154,69169,69168,66150,2132,839,69171,4447,5254,69158,69173,69157,69146,69149,69167,69145,69147,69156,69166,69162,69155,69172,15848,69161,69148,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-165052","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entrepreneurship","8":"tag-amazon","9":"tag-america","10":"tag-andrea","11":"tag-antariksh-gupta","12":"tag-bonafide-research","13":"tag-business","14":"tag-covid-19","15":"tag-cuba","16":"tag-delhi","17":"tag-entrepreneurship","18":"tag-exclusive-padel-pickle-park","19":"tag-fiene-klemmer","20":"tag-germany","21":"tag-gupta","22":"tag-india","23":"tag-instagram","24":"tag-jeet","25":"tag-jeet-totla","26":"tag-joan","27":"tag-joan-escandell","28":"tag-klemmer-fiene","29":"tag-lawstrings-pickleball-premier-league","30":"tag-malika-sadani","31":"tag-manish-poddar","32":"tag-mexico","33":"tag-middle-east","34":"tag-moms-co","35":"tag-new-york","36":"tag-pickleball","37":"tag-pickleball-exclusive","38":"tag-pickleball-news-times-now","39":"tag-pickleball-now","40":"tag-pickleball-paddle-brand-serve-club","41":"tag-pickleball-start-up","42":"tag-reppp","43":"tag-serve-club","44":"tag-serve-club-india","45":"tag-serve-club-paddle-company","46":"tag-serve-club-pickleball","47":"tag-serve-clubs","48":"tag-sofia-rodriguez","49":"tag-south-delhi","50":"tag-southeast-asia","51":"tag-tetr","52":"tag-tetr-college-of-business","53":"tag-uk","54":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=165052"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165052\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/165053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=165052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=165052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=165052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}