GotCourts

GotCourts operates as a comprehensive digital ecosystem for racket sports, functioning as both a social network for players and a marketplace for booking courts and coaches. Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, the company was established by co-founders Cédric Escher (CTO) and Diego Seitz (former CEO). Seitz, who joined as a late co-founder in 2017, brought a background in strategic management from the University of St. Gallen and prior experience at firms like Accenture, playing a key role in the company's turnaround and subsequent growth.

The firm's business model is twofold, targeting both individual players and sports facilities. For players, GotCourts provides a free mobile and web application that serves as a virtual club. This platform allows users to find playing partners based on skill level, discover and book available courts and coaches, track personal progress, and participate in leaderboards and a national amateur competition, the GotCourts League. For its B2B clients—tennis clubs, padel centers, and other racket sport facilities—GotCourts offers a SaaS-based club management system. This software helps venues digitize their operations, manage court schedules, optimize utilization, and reduce administrative costs. Revenue is generated through recurring SaaS subscriptions from these clubs and facilities, with pricing tiers based on the number of courts and included features, as well as service fees from marketplace transactions.

Initially focused on the Swiss market, GotCourts achieved significant traction, becoming a leading platform in the region and securing a partnership with Swiss Tennis. The company embarked on international expansion, targeting Germany and Austria by establishing partnerships with local tennis federations. A key milestone was the seed funding round of $1 million in 2018, which fueled product development and European expansion. In a strategic move to create a larger, unified racket sports community, GotCourts was acquired in February 2022 by its Spanish competitor, Playtomic. Following the acquisition, the GotCourts team, including its founders, joined Playtomic to lead and continue expansion in the DACH region, integrating its user base of over 300,000 players and 600 clubs into Playtomic's global network.

Keywords: racket sports platform, court booking system, tennis club management, padel court booking, social network for sports, sports marketplace, SaaS for sports clubs, Cédric Escher, Diego Seitz, Playtomic, Swiss Tennis partner, club digitalization, court scheduling software, player matching service, tennis league, sports tech, Zurich startup, online court reservation, sports facility management, club administration software, virtual tennis club, racket sports community