SIQ Basketball
- Investor KB Partners has interests in many sports tech firms
- SIQ was founded by former Finnish professional Harri Hohteri
SIQ Basketball, the developer of a smart basketball approved for use by the International Basketball Federation (Fiba), has raised US$3 million in additional funding to accelerate its ambition of delivering personalised analytics to every player in the world.
The round was led by Chicago-based venture capital firm KB Partners, whose portfolio includes several sports technology startups and featured the participation from Tera Ventures in Estonia.
SIQ’s smart basketball makes it possible for a player of any standard to improve their performance through personalised analytics. The ball is the same size as a standard basketball and has the same shape, bounce, weight, and functionality, but also tracks 192 different metrics per shot.
Data such as consistency, quickness and swish percentage are automatically sent to a paired smartphone application and after 500 shots, the ball learns each player’s individual fingerprints. The ball is available in men’s, women’s, indoor and outdoor variants, and the application is a subscription-based service.
The SIQ platform launched as a beta in January last year and has since recorded more than four million shots. The company and its investors believe the technology and Fiba’s approval mean it is well placed to capture a significant part of an emerging market. The new funding will be used to expand SIQ’s reach and further develop its feature set to include online leaderboards and social games.
“Today, access to analytics is limited in youth and amateur sports – especially basketball. SIQ sees a world where every player has performance data at their fingertips,” said Erik Anderson, chief executive SIQ Basketball. “We look forward to leveraging this investment for marked expansion and continued feature development to the SIQ experience.”
“Data and analytics have been transformative in sports,” said Steve Ahern, partner at KB Partners. “By providing athletes with real-time feedback on their performance through data previously unavailable, SIQ is transforming the way in which players approach the game, allowing them to accurately measure performance and further develop their skill set.”
