Seeing a celebrity investing in a business, which is related to his or her own field, is a very common scenario these days. In fact, celebrities are supporting startups and brands that are not even closely related to their own field of interest. For example, we all know how celebrities have come forward and supported different sports based leagues in the country. From Shah Rukh Khan to Abhishek Bachchan, From Cricket to Kabbadi, celebrities have invested in a lot of such alliances. Just recently Mahendra Singh Dhoni invested in a sports-based social network, Sachin Tendulkar, co-owns Smaaash, a sports-based gaming, and entertainment zone and now joining the race is none other than well known Indian cricketer, Anil Kumble. Anil has launched a startup called Spektacom, not just as an investor but also as a founder.

Spektacom

Spektacom aims to use state-of-the-art technologies to bring a revolution of sorts in sporting experiences. The first product from the house of Spektacom is a Power Bat. This power bat is basically a set of sensors that can be attached to a cricket bat and will capture batting related statistics in real time. This power bat will be able to determine the speed of the bat when it strikes the ball, the exact spot where the ball has hit and the degree to which the bat rotated in the player’s hand. Spektacom has also come up with a new unit called Speks, which will determine the power of the shot — the greater the Speks, the greater the power.

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Benefits

This technology can greatly help the player analyze their batting game and do improvisations accordingly. Secondly, it provides for more statistics to be displayed in regards to the batting style of players, during matches. For example, in a series like IPL, this technology can help display and compare batting patterns of different players, giving a whole new lot of dimension to the stats and more data to display, thus building upon the content and knowledge. The star icon status of Kumble has helped him crack a few deals already; he has tied up with Star, which would use this technology in the upcoming matches as a broadcasting partner. Anil Kumble has also managed to get some big partners on board. Microsoft is the technology partner and the Power Bat is supported by Microsoft’s IoT operating system Azure Sphere.

The Kumble Advantage

This business seems like a perfect marriage between Kumble’s two set of skills, He has a cricketing background and is India’s highest wicket-taker in tests, and he is also a Mechanical Engineer from RVCE. While his engineering background helps in understanding and utilizing the technology better, his reputation in cricket would come in handy to both designs his products and sell them to potential buyers.