Bengaluru, Aug 18: Indian cricket star Dinesh Karthik and Indian squash champion Dipika Pallikal have joined Bengaluru-based Sports Tech Startup Fanplay IoT as strategic partners. The star duo will be actively involved in enhancing Fanplay’s strategic product and market roadmaps, provide mentorship in product development and promote the Fanplay brand globally.
The wicket-keeper batsman who earned the acronym ‘Finisher’ for his pyrotechnics during the end overs opined that there was an immediate connect between sportspersons and Fanplay. “This is an exciting space for us to be in. As professional athletes, we understand the vision of what Fanplay is trying to achieve – of not only bringing the entire sports world together on a single data platform but also creating conversations amongst Players, Kids and Fans. Our decision to be part of them comes from the sheer expertise they have shown in developing futuristic Wearable & IoT Tech and their unique fan engagement platform that captures every fan’s emotions,” said Dinesh while adding that it would become easier for him to interact with his fans.
Fanplay IoT is a sports tech platform that offers a wide range of products and services from Fan Engagement to Advanced Sports Wearables. Their marquee product is India’s 1st Smart Jersey which can monitor heart-rate and other vital parameters needed for Professional Athletes. They’re endeavoring to bring these Professional Sports Tech solutions to the masses and enable millions and Kids and Amateurs to help in their sporting journey.
“While sports tech is seeing an enormous amount of traction, Fanplay stands out amongst the crowd by pioneering several technologies that have already been well-tested and introduced in various teams and academies. Especially, their state-of-the-art Smart Jersey can be very crucial for monitoring women’s sports performance, paving the way for data-driven scientific training,” said the ace squash player Dipika Pallikal.
Fanplay IoT is a dream vision of Dr. Mohan Kumar, its Founder & CEO. “We are very excited to have the duo on board. Both Dipika and Dinesh have performed exceptionally well at the highest levels in their respective sports. For us, their active involvement will help us to launch innovative customized solutions to real world athlete problems and exciting fan engagement solutions.”
Vinay Jagtap, Co-Founder & CTO, Fanplay IoT further added: “It is an exciting phase in Fanplay’s journey wherein we have many projects already executed with the likes of CSK, STAR Sports and Combat Kinetics. Many more are in the pipeline. Both Dipika and Dinesh have been pillars in their respective sports and we hope to use their expertise and knowledge to elevate us to a whole new orbit.”
Fanplay IoT’s fan engagement platform captures the natural fan language – the Fan’s motions & emotions – through their web-portal, mobile application and smart merchandise. Fanplay IoT is incubated as a deep tech start-up in IISc, Bengaluru and is part of the Ministry of Textiles program for Smart Textiles by the Govt. of India. They’re also part of HYPE Sports Tech Accelerator (UK).
Fanplay IoT’s Smart Jersey is currently being used by grassroots sports academies, and sports science centers for vital data monitoring during sports training. Their reporting and data analytics provide crucial insights on optimum performance levels (internal load) and injury prevention.
Going beyond the borders, Fanplay IoT is part of the GVA program of Hype Sports Innovation – an UK based sports accelerator. In the near future, Fanplay IoT will be taking up projects for fan engagement and athlete performance in the international markets as well.
