Can venture capital make American cricket happen?
Backed by tech industry luminaries, Major League Cricket’s first season was a successful trial run. But many challenges loom.
Sivaramakrishnan Somasegar ended his 25 year run at Microsoft in 2015. Eight years later, he’s back working with company CEO Satya Nadella on something new. It’s a start up — but not one you’d expect from Microsoft luminaries.
Somasegar, who goes by Soma, and Nadella are co-owners of the Seattle Orcas, one of six teams that make up Major League Cricket. The Orcas came second in MLC’s inaugural season, which ran in July.
Soma and Nadella are two of several influential venture capitalists from Silicon Valley’s South Asian diaspora to back the league. They’re betting they can not only sate the hunger that local Indians, Caribbean, Australians and Brits have for cricket, but win over a chunk of America’s gluttonous sports watchers.
“We’ve been living in this country anywhere from 20 to 40 years, I think we understand what this country is all about,” said Soma, now managing director of Madrona Venture Group. “We also understand the place that we come from. So we are able to bring the two together and do something here that is first and foremost relevant for people in this country, and then the rest of the world.”
