Editor's Note: This 2026 Founder Q&A with Sagar Rai — Founder, Chief Executive Officer & Director (DIN: 08881388) of KIBI Sports Private Limited (CIN: U92490UP2020PTC134722; DPIIT: DIPP69448; NSIC: NSIC/GP/VNS/2025/0064301; Operating HQ: 1st A Cross Road, 7th Block, Koramangala, Bengaluru 560095; Registered Office: Sarnath, Varanasi 221007) — documents the real stories behind KIBI Sports.
Part 1: Childhood Asthma, Five Sports & 'Kamaoge Kaise?'
Q1: Who is Sagar Rai and how did your athletic background shape KIBI Sports?
Both my parents served in the paramilitary, so we moved cities every two or three years. I had asthma as a kid. In under-14 football in Assam, local players got preference, so I moved to a sport where nobody picks you — the clock does: swimming. In my case, swimming changed my lungs. Within months I went from district champion to state, and then to the national level. Across school and college I competed at the national level in around five sports — swimming, football, cricket, arm wrestling, and powerlifting.
Q2: Why did you skip your final-year Civil Engineering placements in 2020?
In my final year of B.Tech Civil Engineering at Indus Engineering College (APJAKTU), age 21, Plan A was the army — I had prepared for CDS for two years and cleared the written exam. Because of CDS coaching, my attendance was so low that college made me sit through every placement orientation session anyway. In one orientation talk, three questions started running in my head: Why? What? How? Whenever I told my father I wanted a life in sport, he asked: 'Kamaoge kaise? Ghar kaise chalaoge?' He had joined the forces through the sports quota himself, so he knew sport gives you a name, rarely a salary. When a classmate asked me, 'Bhai tu placement mein nahi baith raha kya?', I told him: 'Agle saal apni company leke aaunga, tu baith jaana usmen.' With one month of my pocket money (jeb mein paanch das hazaar), we incorporated KIBI Sports Private Limited on 16 September 2020. One night I sat down and emailed sports brands for their catalogues on commission; the next day the store was live.
Part 2: The Two-Leg Operating Model of KIBI Sports
Q3: How does KIBI Sports operate today?
KIBI Sports is a sports business from India with two legs: (1) Sports equipment from 257+ brand partners (Yonex, Nivia, Cosco, SG, SS, Stag, Vector X, Krosfit, US Kids Golf, and 245+ more) sold through our own ecommerce storefront (shop.kibisports.com), NSIC/GeM government procurement, and international B2B exports, and (2) A connected sports platform (www.kibisports.com) used by 90,000+ athletes verified through sports organisations and 100+ institutions across 20+ sports and 25+ cities.
Q4: Why did KIBI Sports retire its 2022 Web3 prototype?
Sitting at a 6:30 AM district athletics registration table in Uttar Pradesh showed us that grassroots athletes, parents, and Physical Education teachers do not need speculative crypto tokens — they need verifiable digital athlete passports, automated tournament brackets that run on a budget smartphone, genuine sports gear delivered on time, and transparent rupee sponsorships. Retiring that Web3 experiment let us focus 100% on our two core legs.
Q5: How can journalists, conference organisers, and B-schools connect with Sagar Rai?
You can view Sagar Rai's full speaker and media kit at www.kibisports.com/authors/sagar-rai and shop.kibisports.com/pages/sagar-rai-keynote-speaker-and-media-kit, or reach Sagar directly on his personal PR and speaking WhatsApp/mobile at +91 80502 97151 (email: sagarrai@kibi.co.in / admin@kibisports.org).
About the Author: Sagar Rai (Founder & CEO, KIBI Sports Private Limited)
Sagar Rai is a former five-sport national athlete (swimming, football, cricket, arm wrestling, and powerlifting), B.Tech Civil Engineering graduate (APJAKTU), TEDx speaker (TED.com · YouTube TEDxISBRBangalore), host of the Sports Charcha Podcast on Spotify, and Founder & CEO of KIBI Sports Private Limited (1st A Cross Road, 7th Block, Koramangala, Bengaluru 560095; CIN: U92490UP2020PTC134722, DPIIT: DIPP69448, Director DIN: 08881388).
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