Smart Rugby Ball Tech Company Sportable Raises US$15 Million In Series A Funding

The technology company behind the Smart rugby ball, Sportable, has raised funding to try and realise its ambitions to enter new sporting markets.

Sportable’s co-founders Dugald McDonald (CEO) and Peter Husemeyer (CTO) are from South Africa and formed the company in 2016 with offices now in London, UK, Melbourne and Cape Town.

The company received its funding from Cape Town-based Venture Capital (VC) HAVAÍC, which is the only African institutional investor, contributed US$1 million. US-based sports investor Ryan Sports Ventures and Australian fund XV Capital led by former Wallaby Stirling Mortlock and James Godfrey raised the remainder and bulk of the funding.

With some initial success in rugby union, Sportable’s Smart ball was used as part of the Women’s Six Nations, Rugby X, Premiership rugby, the World Rugby U20 Championship, and the France Rugby World Cup 2023 embedded inside the Gibert iNNOVO match ball. They hope to enter American football and soccer (football).

Managing partner at Havaic, Iain Lessem, said: “The team’s reach into the big leagues and brands across rugby, American football, and soccer is very impressive.”

The technology allows users to capture data analytics via a tracking chip which can be used by officials and media partners.

The complex data can record all of the ball movements on the field of play which is transmitted on sensors located around the field via Radio Frequency (RF) beacons. This data was collected and processed with almost no latency allowing for information to be used during games to provide greater engagement with the fans.

Some of the Sportable data the tech captured in rugby union are:

• Accurately calculating the speed of a pass
• The amount of time the ball spends in the air
• The distances of kicks

Sportable’s co-founder Dugald McDonald added of having South African funding, “We look forward to tapping into Havaic’s unique insights, networks, investing approach, and impressive experience. They are a steady partner and guiding light to help navigate the opportunities and challenges of scaling technology across borders.”

Rugby Innovations

• Smart Mouthguard Tech To Be Used For Head Injury Assessments.
• Gilbert Unveil iNNOVO Smart Rugby Balls Used At RWC 2023.
• World Rugby’s Non-contact T1 Rugby.
• RugbyDao And Oval3 Partner To Drive Immersive Fan Engagement.