If you are an Indian company looking to go global, you might get the support by cricket Icon Sachin Tendulkar. The Master Blaster (which he is known as) mentioned that the interest in investing into Smartron was because he liked the vision of the founders of the company and he wanted to see them go global, having their base in India.
It was recently announced that Sachin Tendulkar is not just the brand ambassador, but a shareholder in the company that just marked its entry into the Indian market with the launch of a hybrid laptop, the Smartron tBook.
“This is the second inning of my life. First, I was playing cricket on the field, and the second inning is the partnership with entrepreneurs. That means much more to me because if you read what is written behind the product, it says designed and engineered in India,”
Tendulkar said.
“An Indian company looking to go global is a matter of pride for all of us. I wanted to support this whole-heartedly. It will be a dream come true to see Americans carrying this phone and saying this product is made by Indians. Thoughts are there and result will follow”
At the launch event, he mentioned how it all began and how the managing team for him and the team from Smartron had talks, and meeting and how Sachin personally attended a few meetings to see how things can be taken ahead. He didn’t disclose how much amount was invested, but if you look at it from an Indian fan’s perspective, it doesn’t matter. What matters is, a sports personality who hasn’t endorsed a lot of tech products, has actually put a stake in a company that is looking to go global with its products.
The company’s Chairman and Managing Director Mahesh Lingareddy said that they invested $10 million so far, and are looking to invest $100 million further in the next two years.
The start does look good for Smartron, with the support from one of the most influential people in the country, and who isn’t just a brand ambassador to them. Smartron is going to launch a smartphone on April 18th in Hyderabad, the city where the company’s head office is located. They also want to have products in different enterprise solutions including routers, cloud storage, drones, IoT, etc.
