Boly is a mobile application that allows you to discover nearby facilities where you can connect with athletes around you and elevate your sports experience to the highest level.
Click here to visit the website.
- 🌟 When did the first idea for Boly start stirring in your mind? Who was with you at that moment, where were you, and what had frustrated you—or what dream were you chasing?
Boly actually first emerged during a gamification hackathon organized by GameFed. The hackathon’s goal was to solve problems using gamification techniques and make experiences richer. We were on the same team with Sinan Güler and friends from the Entrepreneurship Foundation. As a former basketball player, Sinan was brainstorming ways to encourage people to get into basketball. As a team, we dove deeper into that question and evolved it into an app idea that not only promotes playing basketball but also solves basic needs like finding courts and teammates, while offering motivating rewards as you play. That’s how Boly was born—centered on encouraging people to get active in sports and removing barriers in the process. Later, we refined it into today’s Boly app through one-on-one user interviews, visiting courts, and participating in various basketball events to gather feedback. The vision of someone like Sinan Güler—respected in Turkey’s startup and investment ecosystem, with his basketball achievements and background—meshed perfectly with our young, entrepreneurial team’s energy and product development skills.
- 🌟 Do you remember the neighborhood courts where you played as a kid? Is there a feeling from those days that carries over into Boly?
Our generation might be one of the last to have grown up playing constantly on neighborhood courts, but our paths to sports often crossed through school teams, summer camps, or friend groups. One of our team members, Selen, puts it this way: “The girls’ basketball team I joined in high school shut down because we didn’t have enough players. Ever since, I’ve vividly remembered how hard it is to connect with people to play sports together.”
Boly was designed to address exactly that need.
The street basketball culture at Boly’s core evokes those old, rule-free but full-of-spirit games on neighborhood courts. It’s a more natural, fast-paced, and accessible style of play. The resurgence of street basketball today—and its inclusion in the Olympics—shows this culture is coming alive again.
In this context, we’d especially like to highlight our partner Sinan Güler’s experiences. As someone who’s played on the streets in both Turkey and the U.S., Sinan believes basketball isn’t just a sport—it’s character-building. In his words: “In Turkey, our age group saw through Blacktop and streetball tournaments that neighborhood basketball has its own unique place and rules. Personally, I learned on the street that competition has boundaries where rules can flex, and you earn respect through your game. Basketball teaches you to win together, whether with an opponent or teammate. There’s nothing like the feeling of shaking hands with your rival and walking off the court after a match where you’ve fought to your last drop of sweat—and maybe even come close to a fight.”
This mindset is one of the foundational building blocks of the culture Boly carries.
- 🌟 Gamification is motivation for athletes. Do you think Boly could one day gamify other areas of people’s lives too?
Gamification is an approach rooted in psychological and emotional motivations that’s already used in many areas of life. Right now, we’re focusing on sports because we want to create a space where athletes can truly get motivated, track their stats, and earn rewards. But we absolutely believe gamification can apply to every aspect of life. In the future, we could adapt this approach to other fields as well.
- 🌟 How do you draw parallels between stepping onto the court and starting a startup? What moment knocked you down the hardest?
The court represents struggle, and a startup is much the same—an endless battle. A key similarity is the unseen efforts and constant training behind success. Just as teamwork and the right team dynamics determine a game’s outcome on the court, the right team and motivation drive success in startups. We’ve been knocked down plenty of times, and it still happens—from finance and legal hurdles to product and marketing challenges. The important thing is getting back up each time and keeping the fight going.
- 🌟 Do you remember someone saying, “No one will use this” or “This won’t work”? What did that make you feel?
Yes, there were people who said that. Changing user habits is tough. No one had ever found a match buddy through an app before, or tracked scores digitally. Even in tournaments, scores weren’t usually digitized. But we believed we could build that habit by blending technology and community management effectively. Because we understood our users’ needs well and used tech smartly, we pressed on with faith despite the negativity.
- 🌟 What’s the phrase most repeated in your team?
The most common question in our team is: “What does our user want?” At every stage of product development, we prioritize understanding users’ desires and needs. We conduct user interviews, analyze data, and directly incorporate that feedback into the product. Some users have even volunteered to join the team and actively participate in development processes.
- 🌟 If Boly were a rhythm, what tempo would it be: the building speed on a treadmill, or the heartbeat in the middle of the court?
If Boly were a rhythm, it’d be a dynamic beat in the style of hip-hop or rap, reflecting street culture. Street basketball is already intertwined with these genres. We even have a Spotify playlist called “The Spirit of the Street” full of hip-hop and rap tracks. These songs capture Boly’s energy and soul perfectly.
- 🌟 Do you see success as a score, or is the spirit of the game more important to you?
Absolutely, the spirit of the game matters more to us. We don’t view success just as scores or hitting targets—instead, enjoying the process is our core motivation. Whether it’s our users or us getting joy from events, the app experience, and what we do—that comes first.
- 🌟 What did you do when the first user notification came in that they’d hit the court? Do you remember that moment?
When we launched, we reached thousands of users quickly and cracked the top 10 on the App Store. It was incredibly exciting for us. Our WhatsApp group was buzzing with thrilled messages. Plus, one of the winners in our first league was a user from Diyarbakır who used his prize to buy sports gear. That really filled us with pride and motivation.
- 🌟 If Boly were a song, which one would it be? And why that one?
If Boly were a song, it’d definitely be Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – “Can’t Hold Us.” Its high energy and tempo perfectly mirror Boly’s spirit. We play it often in our tournaments and games—it’s motivating, embodies community vibe, and is one of the best tracks to describe Boly.
📍 Note: Boly’s next big step
Finally, as Boly, we’re thrilled to bring our biggest event to life so far. On August 23–24, with Garanti BBVA as the main sponsor, we’ll celebrate basketball festival-style at Caddebostan Coastal Park with 32 teams in the Garanti BBVA Genç 3×3 Tournament. This isn’t just a big event for us—it’s a turning point where Boly levels up. Anyone who wants to download the app and join can pre-register through Boly. This partnership and growing with our community brings us immense joy.
