str8bat, a sports technology company has raised ₹3.5 million in Series A funding round. The funding round was led by Exfinity Venture Partners, with Shailesh Ghorpade, Founding Managing Partner, Exfinity, taking the board position.
The round also saw participation from TRTL, Eternal Capital, and the VCats group (including Venture Catalysts and VCgrid), alongside existing investors such as Techstars and SucSEED Indovation Fund.
The fund will be used to accelerate product development, introduce new product lines, and expand its marketing efforts and geographic footprint in South Africa, the US, and the UK.
“We are incredibly proud of what str8bat has achieved, both in India and globally. str8bat, crafted in India and validated by the world’s elite, is built to revolutionise the game on a global stage. This investment will allow us to accelerate our growth, expand into new markets, and continue developing innovative products that help athletes at every level. Our vision is to bridge the gap between grassroots and professional players, while redefining how performance is measured and improved through accessible, data-driven technology,” said Gagan Daga, Co-founder, str8bat.
“In a world where power hitting and innovative shots dominate, Str8bat’s cutting-edge insights are helping coaches, players and teams achieve superior performance outcomes. Their strategic partnerships, especially in cricket, enhance their credibility and fast-track their go-to-market strategy. We are thrilled to support their journey in redefining players’ performance on a global scale,” said Shailesh Ghorpade, founding managing partner, Exfinity Venture Partners.
Zubin Bharucha, Head of Cricket at Rajasthan Royals said, “As coaches, it is not always easy to keep an eye on all our players. str8bat’s technology has allowed us to constantly monitor the delicate intricacies of how our cricketers are performing, which has helped us provide them with actionable insights and recommendations to improve their game. This now has also become one of the strategic tools in our talent scouting program.”
Founded in 2017 by Gagan Daga, Rahul Nagar, and Madhusudan R, str8bat specialises in developing sensor-based wearables for cricket players.
Its core product is a sensor that attaches to the back of a cricket bat, offering real-time insights to help players improve their game.
str8bat’s flagship product, a cricket bat wearable device that attaches to the back of a cricket bat and provides real-time data analytics and is designed to help players enhance their game.
The company claimed that this innovation has already attracted marquee clients like Rajasthan Royals, Cricket Australia, who partnered with str8bat to start the world’s first smart willow—an impressive testament to their role in revolutionising sports technology and athlete performance.
str8bat has also partnered with SG to launch the smart willow, in which IoT is embedded into the bat itself by str8bat to deliver real-time performance data.
The company’s primary market is India, with a presence in Australia. Str8bat has sold around 18,000 sensors in India alone. With over 400 elite players currently using its platform and having recorded millions of shots, str8bat aims to reach over a million players in the next five years.
