STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Friends at Staten Island Technical High School -- Alex Kagan, 21, David Kleyman, 20, Alex Aleksandrovski, 22, and Dima Korenblyum, 22 -- weren't just techies: They all loved to play sports.

Having played on the same YMCA basketball team for years, they decided to join a soccer team together.

"We thought finding a league would be easy. Instead, a prolonged Google search yielded bad and confusing results -- links to expired leagues, sites with unclear schedules, outdated information, and no way to compare leagues and activities side-by-side," said Kagan.

For this reason, the four friends put their penchant for sports and tech-savvy skills to the test. The end result is Wooter -- the brainchild of Aleksandrovski -- which was created in June 2014.

"Alex had the idea to create something where you can find any sport going on in your area. We went out and spoke to merchants to get their feedback and what they needed," said Kagan.

Said Aleksandrovski: "Wooter aggregates the best sports and activities in one place with clear information and pricing to help people enjoy the leagues and activities they're searching for."

And the close friendship of the four founders has resulted in a successful tech start-up company that now has eight partners, and a staff of 23.

"It takes the right type of people to make it (a company) work. We have the right dynamic. Even when it gets tough, we just work it out. We can separate business from being friends," said Kagan, noting that the Wooter team works about 70 hours per week to grow the company.

Alex Kagan, David Kleyman, Alex Aleksandrovski, and Dima Korenblyum, Founders



Wooter

14 Bradley Ave.,

Meiers Corners



Website: Wooter.co



Telling Trait:

"It takes the right type of people to make it (a company) work. We have the right dynamic. Even when it gets tough, we just work it out," said Kagan. 14 Bradley Ave.,Meiers Corners"It takes the right type of people to make it (a company) work. We have the right dynamic. Even when it gets tough, we just work it out," said Kagan.

"We live the startup life, which means we live at the office. We're often here seven days a week, and on any given week, we'll end up working 24 hours a day," he added.

THE NAME

Wooter is a slang term for sports fanatics, said Korenblyum.

"(They are) people who are passionate about their sports or rooting for their favorite teams. We love that energy, and want Wooters to join with us to find the sports and activities they love," said Kleyman.

Visitors to Wooter.co can enter their zip code and the activity in which they'd like to participate, and the website generates a list of matching activities in the area, explained Max Av, chief creative officer of Wooter.

"You can further curate your list by filtering by age, distance, price, etc. Once you click on an activity, you are taken to a detailed description of that activity including price, scheduling options and reviews," he added.

GROWING THE BUSINESS



While anyone can use Wooter free of charge, the company receives a 2.5 percent processing fee. Merchants are given a dashboard that tracks their customers and revenue, said Korenblyum.

"This tool enables them to manage purchases and scheduling, and save money on management software," he said.

Among Wooter's partners are 5th Boro sports league and Lion's Wrestling Club, said Av.

"The only time we take a percentage is when we get a customer," said Kagan. "The 2.5 percent is basically just to cover our cost of processing the payment. We take almost nothing because we want to grow (as a company) as fast as possible."

Today Wooter.co includes more than 500 different offers from sports leagues, gyms, yoga studios, as well as activities like paragliding or sailing lessons, from across Staten Island and the larger New York City area, said Aleksandrovski.

"Right now we are in New York City and surrounding areas (Long Island and New Jersey), with plans to take the business nationwide," he said.

FOLLOW Tracey Porpora on