Puma

PUMA or the Puma AG Rudolf Dassler Sport is a multi-national company based in Herzogenaurach, Germany. It manufactures and sells high-end athletic shoes and various footwear. Although best known for its football and basketball shoes, the company also manufactures shoes for other sports, including cricket.

The company began as part of the Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory, a partnership started in 1924 by brothers Rudolf and Adolf Dassler. The two created shoes in their mother’s laundry, using a stationary bicycle to generate electricity to provide create the shoes. Almost overnight, the company gained international renown when it sponsored Jesse Owens who won 4 gold medals for the US team as sprinter.

However, the brothers fought and decided to split the company in 1948, each one forming a shoe company of his own – Ruda for Rudolf and adidas AG for Adolf. That same year, Ruda was changed to Puma Schuhfabrik Rudolf Dassler. 

The company created quality shoes and continued to sponsor various athletes. Then, the company expanded to create not just shoes but apparel, body wear, and equipment for different sports. Puma also creates bats for cricket. Its cricket bats product range include the Iridium which are powerful bats, Sculptura which features finely crafted bats, Kinetic which employs kinetic energy, and Ballistic which was built especially for speed and power.