CricHQ
 | |
| Type of business | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2010 |
| Headquarters | Wellington, New Zealand |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Founder(s) | Simon Baker |
| Industry | Cricket |
| Website |
www |
| Current status | Active |
CricHQ is a digital platform for sport which combines competition management and administration software with live scoring and statistics for cricket clubs.[1] It is based in Wellington, New Zealand, and was set up by CEO Simon Baker and former New Zealand cricketers Stephen Fleming and Brendon McCullum. It manages the administration of cricket test countries New Zealand, Sri Lanka, South Africa and Zimbabwe. A number of other national governing bodies also use its services from club level upwards (see National Governing Bodies section below).[2]
The company provides a range of digital services to cricket organisations that typically use paper-based administration and scoring. The services include instant updates for fans, performance insights for coaches and the ability to set up cricket-related social networks. It also makes it easier to register players, organise competition draws and analyse demographics of sport participants.
When the app was launched it was briefly one of the world's most downloaded sporting apps [3] and since then it has amassed over 1 million Facebook fans.[4]
The company has been described as "one of New Zealand’s largely unsung tech success stories" by one of New Zealand's leading technology journalists.[5]
In October 2016, CricHQ's Executive Chair, Mike Loftus, was invited to visit India with New Zealand's Prime Minister, John Key, as part of a trade delegation.[6]
Investment
In June 2015 CricHQ raised US$10m from Singapore private equity firm Tembusu Partners to expand globally including a doubling of staff in India, the world's largest cricketing nation.[7]
In September 2016 it was revealed that CricHQ was seeking further investment of US$10M and was in discussions with investment bankers in the United States and United Kingdom. It also stated that the company was valued at US$70M while forecast to make a loss of more than US$4m in the 2016/17 financial year.[8]
National Governing Bodies
As well as having a partnership with the International Cricket Council, CricHQ signed Hong Kong as its 50th cricketing National Governing Body in August 2016.[9] The full list of National Governing Bodies that CricHQ has signed with is:[5]
- New Zealand
- South Africa
- Sri Lanka
- Zimbabwe
- Afghanistan
- Belgium
- Botswana
- Canada
- France
- Germany
- Gibraltar
- Guernsey
- Ireland
- Japan
- Jersey
- Namibia
- Nepal
- Papua New Guinea
- Scotland
- Singapore
- UAE
- USA
- Vanuatu
- Zambia
- Austria
- Chile
- Cook Islands
- Cyprus
- Estonia
- Finland
- Hungary
- Indonesia
- Malawi
- Maldives
- Malta
- Mexico
- Norway
- Oman
- Philippines
- Portugal
- Russia
- Sierra Leone
- Taiwan
- Vietnam
- Czech Republic
- Nigeria
- Brazil
- Qatar
- Rwanda
- Hong Kong
Awards
- In September 2016, CricHQ was announced as a finalist in the New Zealand Innovation Awards in the Innovation in technology solutions section and as the Emerging New Zealand innovator.[10] CricHQ was highly commended in the Emerging Innovator award [11]
- In July 2016, CricHQ won the Excellence in Software Award at the New Zealand Excellence in IT Awards.[12]
- CricHQ was awarded a National Award for Excellence in Digital Marketing & Social Media at the 2016 CMO Asia Awards for its #ICareISupport campaign to help raise money for drought-stricken farmers in Maharashtra.[13]
References
- ↑ Hutching, Gerard (June 16, 2015). "Singaporean firm invests US$10m in New Zealand cricket tech company". Stuff. Retrieved July 4, 2016.
- ↑ Harris, Catherine (October 30, 2015). "NZ's CricHQ scores digital deals with Zimbabwe and South Africa". Stuff. Retrieved July 4, 2016.
- ↑ Hamish, Rutherford (September 11, 2016). "From unstable start-up, CricHQ bids for global domination of cricket scoring". Fairfax. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
- ↑ Tao, Lin (August 22, 2016). "New academy launches to educate SMEs on social media". Fairfax. Retrieved September 19, 2016.
- 1 2 Keall, Chris (September 2, 2016). "Stephen Fleming and Brendon McCullum as software billionaires?". NBR. Retrieved September 4, 2016.
- ↑ Jones, Nicholas (October 17, 2016). "McCullum jets off with Key to open doors for cricket firm expansion in India". NZHerald. Retrieved November 1, 2016.
- ↑ Hutching, Gerard (June 16, 2015). "Singaporean firm invests US$10m in New Zealand cricket tech company". Fairfax. Retrieved November 1, 2016.
- ↑ Rutherford, Hamish (September 20, 2016). "Wellington's CricHQ seeks US$10 million from investors for expansion". Fairfax. Retrieved September 21, 2016.
- ↑ Trust, Press (September 4, 2016). "CricHQ enters into partnership with Hong Kong CA". Business Standard. Retrieved September 5, 2016.
- ↑ "NZIA - Finalists 2016". innovators.org.nz. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
- ↑ "NZIA - Winners 2016". innovators.org.nz. Retrieved November 1, 2016.
- ↑ "RAW DATA: Excellence in IT Awards handed out at gala event | The National Business Review". nbr.co.nz. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
- ↑ "CMO ASIA". cmoasia.org. Retrieved September 27, 2016.