Tim Malik, CEO and co-founder of Combat IQ, has come a long way since participating in the Block Dojo program in 2022—the London incubator for start-ups building on the BSV blockchain. His Combat IQ, which has since been with company accelerator Techstars, wants to be a game-changer in the combat sports industry with its AI-powered analytic platform.
Armed with investment, a vision and determination, Tim says his team exceeded their own expectations in completing their prototype and having the opportunity to conduct real-time pilots with sports leagues. The company now plans to scale their operational capabilities as they look to raise a seed round at the end of the Techstars program.
On this episode of CoinGeek Conversations, Charles Miller and Tim catch up to talk about Combat IQ, how it uses AI to process data and how blockchain can play a role in resolving disputes in the sports betting industry.
Combat IQ is about delivering data while providing great benefits to industry participants. Fight promoters will be able to use the data provided to them by the platform to augment community-building on their websites. Rights-holders can maximize value as viewership increases and more sponsors advertise in their league.
As Tim explains, real-time data delivered during sports broadcasts allows viewers to engage more. “The world of sports broadcasting, sports viewership is changing dramatically. As the younger generations get in, they’re changing the way people view sports, how they interact with it, and people are always looking for real time information in convenient ways. Fans want to see data points,” he says.
In addition, Combat IQ enables real time markets combat sports betting. As he explains, “We send odds to betting companies directly and they would put those odds on their marketplaces for people to bet with.” Until now, betting in play is mostly limited to UFC. With Combat IQ, he aims to enhance people’s betting experience by providing leagues with real-time data using cameras and motion tracking systems. The league can in turn use the data to educate and engage their fans in the same way blue chip leagues such as NFL and F1 do.
How does Combat IQ apply AI in data analytics? As Tim explains, an automated system works in place of a person who identifies certain components of a fight such as the number of strikes on the ground—which he says is impossible for people to track. Measuring factors such as speed of punches and kicks, which humans cannot do through the naked eye, are also made possible with Combat IQ’s system. Components are analyzed by a system that will determine which metrics have the greatest impact. Combat IQ will then provide the AI-processed data analytics to leagues for their own use.
How does blockchain fit into Combat IQ? Blockchain is utilized in the sports betting part of the platform. “When we deliver odds to sports betting companies, we actually publish those odds to the blockchain at the same time,” Tim says. “And that’s how we create an immutable record for dispute resolution, conflict settlement.”
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