Athletes For Athletes or “AFA” is an innovative tech solution for the commercial sporting community that aims to transform the interaction between the everyday sports person and the sporting venue providers. As development in sports is highly reliant on the availability of quality sporting facilities and infrastructure, the interaction between venue providers and users is a critical element in driving growth in the sporting industry. As such, AFA’s tech solution provides the sports person ease of access to their local sporting venues and the venue providers with the tools for technological innovation and business expansion.

The following are three key pointers that highlights AFA’s innovative solution, how it adds value to users and business owners and why AFA makes for a great investment opportunity:

1. Innovative Tech Solution In Multi-decade Old Segment
The segment where AFA operates predominantly deals with venue operators such as badminton courts, futsal courts, fitness gyms, etc. This segment of the sporting industry has essentially remained unchanged in their business and operational model since its inception more than two decades ago. Venue providers provide a facility or equipment-based service which typically requires customers and users to engage via bookings and reservations. AFA’s solution changes the traditional means of interaction between the user and the venue provider via an interactive app which speeds up bookings and allows for better business-streamlining and growth.

2. Business Model That Provides B2B Clients With Opportunities For Pivoting
As mentioned in the first point, the AFA app is not just a venue booking app but also provides venue owners with end-to-end solutions that help them solve typical problems faced as venue owners. These solutions include comprehensive point of sales systems, cloud-based technology that connects user, provider and venue and venue-automation solutions. These solutions essentially allows venue owners to drastically shift their operational capabilities through tech that is readily available through AFA’s business ecosystem.

3. Industry Experts with A Proven and Cash-Positive Business Model
As a team, AFA brings to the playing field more than 70 years of cumulative industry expertise, experience, and grit. With its founding members and current managerial personnel all being experts in the fields of sports, technology, business development and more, AFA has already proven itself a more-than-sound business model with a proven cash-positive business model within the first 2 years of operation.

The sports-venue business has existed for over two decades, providing the everyday sports person with facilities needed to practice their sporting hobbies or passions. The venue business and its operational mode however have remained unchanged since its introduction in the early millennium where customers would need to be present at the venue to make reservations prior to their sports sessions. This unchanged process of bookings and reservations have however developed into a series of problems faced by all venue providers and customers:

1. Inconvenient And Lengthy Reservation Processes
Nearly all sporting facilities are either reserved and booked on site or via a phone calls or messages, which typically results in plenty of back and forth, confirmation, cancellations and not to mention payment issues. Despite there being available web platforms that provide access to reservations, there isn’t a single solution in the market that provides on-demand reservation services for users and for businesses who would like to provide digital reservation services to their customers.

2. Analog Processes Resulting In Issues of Payment, Reporting and Growth
As such, most venue providers have remained fairly unchanged in how they operate their facilities. This also means that processes have remained largely analog, which inherently results in problems with tracking critical information pertaining to reservations, payments, financials, and customer satisfaction, all of which are key components that support a business’s ability to grow and expand.

3. Venues Are Highly Susceptible to Crippling Staffing Issues
As venue providers maintain an analog approach towards their operations, they therefore remain directly affected by typical human resource challenges that comes with a business that does not require a great deal of high-level operational talent. A typical venue provider can operate with a staffing as small as one individual that handles reservations, payments, recording and management of premise, all of which require only minimal human resource talent. This factor becomes a major risk as staffing tend to not be of high-quality talent and would often time directly affect day to day operations, from issues with double booking to absenteeism.

AFA’s solution to these problems are very simple, provide local venue providers with digital solutions and hardware that works towards reducing operational challenges and support streamlining of operations. 

This is then followed by the push of the AFA app as the primary point of contact between venue providers and users in the local market. 

This set of solution provides an offensive for both the business owners and users as both end of the transaction enjoys benefits that are as follows:

1. User-centered Interface That Provides Instantaneous Reservation and Access
With an app solution that currently has over one hundred thousand users, AFA has developed a app-based solution that provides a proven user interface that is convenient and friendly. This application puts in the user’s hand direct access to all local venues that are available for booking via the AFA app, streamlining processes from such as payment, setting up reservation groups with other users and accessing facilities that are equipped with automated systems.

2. Comprehensive POS System That Integrates All Operational Components
AFA provides venue provider with an integrated cloud-based solution for tracking sales, transactions, reservations, financials, and other key data tracking that will support the growth and expansion strategy of the venue provider. AFA’s ability to deliver these solutions also means that new owners can immediately onboard AFA’s solution as part of their operations structure.

3. Replaces Staffing Issues With A Complete Automation Solution
Outside of the cloud-based solution, AFA also delivers automation solutions for venue providers. These solutions include automated access to facilities via reservations, usage of facility-bound equipment such as lighting, vending machines and kiosks that provide sales of beverages or products as well. All of which are immediately integrated into the user app which provides immediate usable solutions for their market, while allowing the venue owners to solve issues of staffing with a potentially fully automated sporting facility.

AFA’s products are directed to two interacting customer pipelines. The first are the product and solutions provided to venue providers which include the Cloud-Based POS system, venue management systems and hardware installations that support the automation of sporting venues.

The second product and solution would be the AFA app which is used by the everyday sports person for transacting with venue providers through reservations, bookings, payments, and use of facilities.

Up to date, AFA has achieved a user base of 150,000 on its application and observes up to three thousand active users per day and an average of 13.5% increase in new monthly app downloads. These users have contributed to a total transaction or bookings worth RM 10 million since October 2020. 

Similarly, AFA’s solutions have helped its partners the venue owners generate over RM 32 million in revenue since October 22. For the year 2023, AFA is on track to generating RM 3 million in revenue.

AFA’s business model revolves around being able to provide local communities with readily available venues for bookings and reservations on the AFA app. As such, the business model focuses on onboarding local venues into the AFA ecosystem, followed by converting existing venue users and the local community into app users. This business model provides AFA with the following streams of revenue flow:

• Subscription and Service Fee
  Revenue generated from venue owners who make available their facilities on the AFA app. Additional servicing revenues can also be generated when owners choose the automation pathway where the automation components will be provided and serviced by AFA, examples of these components are such as but not limited to automated lighting, automated entry systems, kiosks, vending machines, etc.
• Transactional Fee
  Revenue generated from reservations and booking made via the AFA app, The transactional fees will account for an estimated 20% of AFA’s monthly revenue.
• Advertisement Revenue 
  As part of the automation process for venues, owners of venues will receive opportunity to install advertorial spaces in their sports facilities. Advertorial spaces provided by AFA will allow for revenue generation shared between the venue provider and AFA.
• Events and Sponsorships
  Tournaments and Leagues will be part of AFA’s annual roster of events as these are still the bread and butter of building strong sporting communities. As events will be driven as conversion points for the AFA app, the traffic will allow AFA to attract potential sponsors, financial partners and other revenue generation opportunities.

AFA aims to expand beyond the Malaysian sporting market into Asia, specifically in the Physical Activities Industry which includes sporting events, venue providers and outdoor recreations. This Industry estimates an economic value of 240 billion USD and in Malaysia alone the market tracks only an estimate of 50% in participation rate which points to a large market growth space.

AFA seeks a minimum funding of RM1.3 million and a maximum of RM1.95 million, offering in return between 9.09% equity at minimum funds-raised to 13.04% equity at maximum funds-raised. This funding offer puts AFA at a pre-money valuation of RM 13 million with a price per share of RM3.50. Funds raised will be directed to segments of the business that are focused on expansion, these areas of expansion are as follows:

• Nationwide and International Expansion
  AFA’s long term mission is to be the go-to app for reservation and booking of sporting venues in Malaysia, Southeast Asia and then Asia. AFA is already in negotiations to secure their first venue-provider in Singapore which will open a new gateway into Asia for the business to expand from Asia’s financial hub.
• Advertising and Revenue Generation
  In order to continuously onboard new users and new venues towards revenue generation, both digital and physical marketing efforts will be key as AFA markets to new sporting segments and in new regions.
• Community Feature in Mobile App
  One key challenge in AFA’s model is that despite having a strong user base, most bookings are done by a specific group of community leaders. AFA’s direction to develop a community feature will onboard social media type elements that allows bookings to incorporate group-bookings, event invites and activity followings, all of which are aimed at increasing the rate of use of each user.
• League and Tournaments
  As a sporting event company, AFA will continue to build its presence in local and regional communities via leagues and tournaments. Currently in the pipeline are Futsal and Badminton tournaments, of which the first will take place in second quarter of 2023. Physical events such as these will act as a point of conversion where current and active users will act as natural ambassadors that encourage their community towards the AFA app as part of their day-to-day sporting needs.

Connecting people and make sports accessible to 15 million people in the next 10 years

Press

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• https://api.nst.com.my/lifestyle/bots/2021/01/658337/tech-search-click-book 
   

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