Founder Hanish Bhatt says the company will use cricket, hybrid racing and community sport to compete with international brands without relying on constant discounts.
UAE sportswear company Palmfit is targeting expansion across Saudi Arabia, the wider GCC and selected international markets as it builds on its partnership with the Desert Vipers cricket team.
Founder Hanish Bhatt said the company was exploring opportunities with sports clubs, federations, schools and universities, while developing new products for running and hybrid fitness competitions.
The UK and other established cricket markets could follow, although Bhatt said Palmfit would avoid expanding rapidly simply to claim an international presence.
“We are not interested in entering 20 countries just to say we are international,” he said. “We would rather build real relevance in a small number of markets first.”
Bhatt founded Palmfit after identifying what he described as a relevance gap within the UAE sportswear market. Consumers could choose between international companies that did not always design for local conditions and traditional teamwear suppliers producing relatively generic apparel, he said.
Palmfit was created to occupy the space between performance clothing, lifestyle apparel and professional teamwear, with products designed around the UAE’s climate and sporting communities.
The company’s three-year partnership with the Desert Vipers, which compete in the UAE’s International League T20 cricket tournament, has become an important part of that strategy.
