Great Companies: How did you get your idea or concept for the business?
Atul Srivastava: I have spent the last 16 years navigating the business side of Cricket, from player management to merchandising, licensing and league formation I have done it all. I remember that my son would go to Cricket Coaching and every day I would ask him how he had done and the answer was always the same- I bowled and batted and did fielding drills, that got me thinking, for parents and players themselves nothing was showing them exactly how they were improving, That’s how the idea for Smart Cricket came about. With BatSense our first product batters can get measurable data through the state of the art technology ensuring they have the tools to make tangible improvements in their game.
Great Companies: What are the various services provided by Smart Cricket Global Ltd
Atul Srivastava: Smart Cricket Global Ltd is the first company to bring the latest in motion capture technology to the real game arena for cricket, we are in the sphere of innovating and creating technology to help further the game. We also provide broadcast solutions to the world’s best networks, helping fans worldwide gain a new experience in sports through batting insights and data displayed on the screens for the first time. Smart Cricket is building a data-driven ecosystem that will create a connected community of smart players, bringing fans closer to the game, and redefining the way sport is played, watched, followed and analysed.
BatSense is supported by the Smart Cricket app which helps in simplifying the data measured by the sensor. Through the app, we are also creating a community for Cricket and cricket lovers who can use this as a platform to not only better their game but also to get updates on the latest in the sport and connect with other fans, coaches and players. We currently have 100k+ downloads and 10,000 daily users growing at a remarkable pace. Proving that data, technology and sport can find great synergy, we plan to be present in all cricket playing nations in addition to replicating the model for every swing based sport like Golf, Hockey Boxing and more.
Great Companies: What makes Smart Cricket Global Ltd different from hundreds of other similar service providers?
Atul Srivastava:
What makes us stand apart from our competitors is that being the first to create this technology we have been able to fine-tune it to perfection, we are the only company that has seen its product used by the best players in the world, in some of the most prestigious competitions in cricket like the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy and others, this is a testament to our technology and the accuracy of it. Furthermore, as a company, we ensure that we are constantly innovating and ideating on how to make the integration between sports and technology seamless.
Great Companies: What are the struggles and challenges you face?
Atul Srivastava: It is always a struggle to fund any innovation. An idea to business needs research which is time-consuming and expensive, then from here to prototype stage is again time and capital intensive because it requires a lot of R&D. Once you make a prototype, from here to production-ready prototype again has to go through many iterations and therefore it requires an influx of capital. Since I was funding all the above myself it was a real struggle to keep pushing myself and the resources I had in hand. Luckily the entire sports community responded to my innovation in a very positive way therefore I was able to sustain and also got 2 more friends to invest in the idea
Great Companies: How do you plan to grow in the future? What do 5 years down the line look like for Smart Cricket Global Ltd?
Atul Srivastava: : Proving that data, technology and sport can find great synergy, we plan to be present in all cricket playing nations in addition to replicating the model for every swing based sport like Golf, Hockey Boxing and more. Having successfully built a solution for Cricket we are keen to replicate the same Motion sensing expertise across sports. We have already formed Smart Sports which means that all other sports equipment will also become Smart. Smart Sports will focus on Football, Boxing, Golf, Baseball, Badminton, Tennis etc eventually the biomechanics of a cricket swing can be compared to a Baseball swing with greater precision leading to better load management, injury management, recovery and skill. The possibilities of engaging technology with the sport are endless and we want to be recognised as pioneers in this aspect. Through Smart Sports all other sports equipment are in the pipeline, we aim to replicate the successful model across sports with prototypes in Golf, Hockey and Boxing. BatSense is just a start, BallSense, ShoeSense, HelmetSense, GloveSense, PadSense are just a few months away.
The world is integrating more and more with technology. Even sports that have always relied on Human Achievements have seen how technology can boost and benefit players, coaches, and broadcast. We want to make the gold standard of data and technology accessible to every player and every sport, that is our dream and we are well on the way to making it happen.
Great Companies: If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?
Atul Srivastava: My piece of advice will be, don't put all the resources you have in one go. Invest 30/40 per cent and then wait for external funding. Game changing innovations need lot of money to reach the final consumer and it takes time for a non-existing market to build. I played it really bold, anyone new should learn from this experience of mine.
Website : https://smartcricket.com/