We promise we're better at tennis than photography...
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One day, Jack and his friend arrived at the tennis court later than planned. The sun was already starting to set, but they quickly started playing. They had so much fun... for about 10 minutes! And then with every minute that passed the ball got harder and harder to see. With every increasingly comical swing and miss of the ball it became obvious that the was no other choice than to abandon their game.
When Jack came home, sitting down in his perfectly clean, un-sweaty sports clothes, unfulfilled and frustrated, he had an idea; a light-up tennis ball.
He went on Amazon, hoping to find a cheap solution. But unfortunately, there was nothing - just pages of dog toys. In the end, Jack bought a few of these dog toys, but to his disappointment, they were unsuitable. Simply, they were made for dogs, not for tennis.
Jack's story had begun!
In 2022, Jack and his friend tested the first VisiBall prototype; a frankenstein of components soldered together in his University dorm. It wasn't pretty... It barely bounced... But already the excitement was contagious and this basic proof of concept sparked a desire deep inside Jack to turn a silly idea into something REAL...
A simple solution to not being able to see the net was an LED strip connected to a portable charger... The court lines were visible enough in low light, although obviously a problem in the pitch-black.
Jack kept experimenting with different VisiBall designs. His homemade approach wasn’t scalable, but it let him fail fast and iterate cost-effectively.
In January 2025, Jack successfully pitched for funding from the University of Exeter's Student Startup fund.
Shortly after, Alvaro and Ben (also Exeter University students) joined the VisiBall team.
Countless messages, emails, phone/video calls later, the team found a factory that they believed could help them achieve their vision. The money from the University helped create a first prototype.
In June 2025, VisiBall attended the University of Exeter Student Entrepreneurship Awards Night where it showcased the idea and the progress made so far.
Photo credit: Appleton Photography
VisiBall was also shortlisted for the 2025 Product Innovation Award.
In June 2025, the team pitched for further funding from the University. The team knew they were too early for the 2nd round of funding but gave it a try anyway! On this occasion, they were unsuccessful, but they came away with a clear vision of what needed to be achieved to be successful next attempt.
Jack took a risk and invested a little of his own money to move the manufacturing side of the project forward.
In August 2025, the first samples arrived from the manufacturer. Jack and a friend then tested them one evening...
VisiBall continued to work with the factory to improve:
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Visibility 💡 - How well it stands out in the dark.
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Playability 🎾 - How closely it bounces and behaves like a normal tennis ball.
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Durability ⛑️ - How well it withstands smash after smash all night long.
The story has only just begun..
