SIQ Basketball, which makes a technology to give amateur and pickup players the same technological insights as the pros, is the latest startup to pick Portland for a headquarters.
CEO Erik Anderson grew up in Los Angeles and went to school at Oregon State University. When he took over the startup in January 2021 he saw the opportunity to return to the Beaver State.
The company’s roots go back about 10 years but its current iteration has been around for five, Anderson said. It was started in Finland by Finnish former professional basketball player Harri Hohteri, who also has a background in computer science.
The company has created a smart basketball that is approved by the International Basketball Federation and an accompanying app the allows players to track more than 192 data points about their shot and use it to improve their game.
The company isn’t going after the professional or even the top college or high school market. Those payers use more higher-end — and expensive — set-ups.
“The basketball market is way bigger at the consumer level,” said Anderson. “We are bringing the analytics to the general consumer. That is what opens the consumer market.”
He added that general consumers are already tracking workouts and activity with wearable devices like watches and rings. This is another way people can work on their skills.
The ball costs $99 plus a six-month or 12-month membership for the app to unlock the data. Anderson took over as CEO for the purpose of bringing the company to the U.S. market.
The company has a team of 15, most of them in engineering and based in Finland. There are three people in the U.S. Anderson plans to start hiring locally in sales, marketing and operations roles so the company can scale.
The product had a soft launch last year and sold out of inventory during the holidays. It has more than 2,000 active users on its platform, Anderson said. The product is sold direct to consumer.
In May, the company closed a $3 million funding round led by Chicago sports tech investor KB Partners and included Tera Ventures out of Estonia.
“Data and analytics have been transformative in sports,” said Steve Ahern, partner at KB Partners, in a written statement. “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.”
Locally, KB Partners is also an investor in sportswear apparel startup Omorpho.
Anderson is splitting his time between the Portland headquarters and Los Angeles. He said he picked Portland to base the company for several reasons.
“It’s more cost-effective in Portland. Portland is a great sports city. I went to school in Oregon so I have some network,” he said. But, the final decision came after one of the startup’s investors had retired and moved to Portland and then offered to run operations as long as it happened here.
“It’s a perfect situation,” said Anderson. “Yes, let's do it in Oregon for every reason under the sun, or, in Portland under the clouds.”
