Ten Companies Secure Spot in 2024 Class of the Comcast NBCUniversal SportsTech Accelerator
The six-month program provides founders with opportunities to collaborate with leaders from some of the world's most recognized sports brands, including NBC Sports, NASCAR, the Premier League, PGA TOUR, Sky Sports, Comcast Spectacor, and US Olympic sports organizations.
Since the first class in 2021, SportsTech alumni have achieved 132 pilots, partnerships, and commercial deals with consortium partners.
Today, 10 companies were accepted into the fourth class of the Comcast NBCUniversal SportsTech Accelerator, powered by Boomtown. The immersive six-month program will kick off in March.
The exciting opportunities and impactful outcomes of the SportsTech program have continued to fuel interest and demand with more than 1,500 applicants for this year's class, from across 52 countries. The 10 companies selected will have a chance to engage with some of the top sports and tech brands from around the world, including the Premier League, who just joined the SportsTech partner consortium last summer, along with NBC Sports, NBC Sports Next, Sky Sports, Comcast Spectacor, Golf, NASCAR, and PGA TOUR; and three US Olympic sports organizations: U.S. Ski & Snowboard, USA Swimming, and USA Cycling. Since the first class in 2021, SportsTech alumni have achieved 132 pilots, partnerships, and commercial deals with consortium partners.
This unique access to decision-makers at leading sports brands and organizations and across Comcast will provide valuable insights on enhancing their products and services and prepare for accelerated commercial success through strategic collaborations with program partners and within the broader sports industry.
"When it comes to constructing and curating our SportsTech portfolio, every facet of our decision-making process aims to unlock startups that can become ‘scale-ups' ready to impact the world of sports," said Jenna Kurath, Vice President, Startup Partnerships and Head of Comcast NBCUniversal SportsTech. "The SportsTech program focuses not only on tackling complex business challenges for a vast cross-section of some of the world's most recognized sports brands, but it additionally prepares founders to build sustainable businesses."
Entrepreneurs will work one-on-one with SportsTech advisors and participate in customized programming focused on refining go-to-market strategy, commercial business alignment, and adaptive business modeling, with an emphasis on direct business outcomes for enterprise-ready scale.
SportsTech participants will also benefit from a series of unique excursions and working retreats structured around partner events that will bring founders behind-the-scenes to give them a better understanding of the organizations' operational needs.
The 2024 program will begin on March 4 in Florida with a roadshow of partner events and immersion experiences designed to deepen customer discovery—taking founders behind-the-scenes at Universal Studios Florida and NASCAR's Daytona International Speedway and showcasing how PGA TOUR and NBC Sports' Golf produce professional sporting events, like the Arnold Palmer Invitational—allowing founders to identify how to align their technology solutions to the business and operational needs of partners.
Mentors will include industry leaders from Comcast NBCUniversal as well as strategic advisors from the Boomtown network and the partner consortium, including: Will McIntosh, President, NBC Sports NEXT and Fandango; Lora Dennis, Executive Vice President, NBCUniversal Local; Jim Denney, Chief Product Officer, Peacock; Alexandra Willis, Director of Digital Media and Audience Development, the Premier League; Wyatt Hicks, NASCAR Digital Vice President; and Scott Gutterman, Senior Vice President, Digital Operations, PGA TOUR, among others.
The capstone of the program will take place at Rally Innovation in Indianapolis on August 27-28, 2024, where this year's founders will showcase their tech innovations, putting a spotlight on their scale-up traction during the program to garner new business opportunities across the broader sports industry.
For those interested in applying to join the next Comcast NBCUniversal SportsTech Class of 2025 and to learn more about the program's eight focus areas: media and entertainment, fan/player engagement, athlete/player performance, team and coach success, venue and event innovation, fantasy sports and betting, esports, and the business of sports, visit www.comcastsportstech.com/2025.
Comcast NBCUniversal SportsTech Class of 2024 includes:
Aquimo Inc – Mesa, AZ, USA
Aquimo drives value to brands, sports teams, and media through massive multiplayer mobile skill-sports games that integrate the motion of users' phones and let millions play on any TV or live-stream broadcast – with no download required.
Dizplai – Manchester, United Kingdom
Dizplai enables real-time audience engagement for live news, sports, and entertainment, turning broadcasts into immersive two-way experiences by seamlessly integrating with social media, messaging apps, user-generated content, and sports data with dynamic graphics.
Fobi AI – Vancouver, Canada
Fobi AI uses automation, AI, and real-time data intelligence to enhance global customer engagement, personalization, and activation.
KYMIRA – Reading, United Kingdom
KYMIRA creates products with infrared and sensor tech that enhance performance and recovery, address chronic illness, mitigate against injury risk, improve sleep, and provide never-before-seen data insights for men and women.
Mantis-AI – Sao Paulo, Brazil
Mantis AI turns raw footage and noisy data into artfully-organized video clips with enriched data and content insights.
Mobii Systems – Ontario, Canada
Mobii Systems' Microblock Technology revolutionizes the way video streams are synchronized, encoded, and distributed in real-time globally, delivering new user experiences at the live edge.
StellarAlgo – Calgary, Canada
StellarAlgo applies deep data insights and machine learning to turn sports fans into avid customers, enabling true precision marketing by identifying the right opportunities for the right fans at the right time.
Plantiga – Vancouver, Canada
Plantiga is redefining athlete health and performance monitoring with in-shoe sensors and AI.
ZATAP – Winterthur, Switzerland
ZATAP is a platform for creating direct-to-customer connections for brands through "phygital" products: tapping the product with a smartphone allows the customer to unlock engaging digital experiences while enabling brands to build sophisticated customer profiles.
Zoomph, Inc. – Reston, VA, USA
Zoomph provides partnership insights and analytics that help sports and entertainment brands, media, leagues, teams, and athletes analyze social and broadcast content and track trends and competition in real-time.
About Comcast Corporation
Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) is a global media and technology company. From the connectivity and platforms we provide, to the content and experiences we create, our businesses reach hundreds of millions of customers, viewers, and guests worldwide. We deliver world-class broadband, wireless, and video through Xfinity, Comcast Business, and Sky; produce, distribute, and stream leading entertainment, sports, and news through brands including NBC, Telemundo, Universal, Peacock, and Sky; and bring incredible theme parks and attractions to life through Universal Destinations & Experiences. Visit www.comcastcorporation.com for more information.
About Comcast NBCUniversal SportsTech
Comcast NBCUniversal invests in some of the best sports tech startups in the world. We back this investment by providing our startups with a rigorous, custom curriculum, and we surround our entrepreneurs with a dream team of sports industry advisors and experts who are passionately dedicated to helping them succeed. Comcast SportsTech features a partnership of four of Comcast NBCUniversal's sports brands - NBC Sports, Sky Sports, Comcast Spectacor and Golf – alongside Premier League, NASCAR, WWE, and PGA TOUR, and three US Olympic sports organizations: U.S. Ski & Snowboard, USA Swimming, and USA Cycling. This network of partnerships brings an early lens into innovation solutions, exclusive access to research and business insights, and differentiated value to Comcast's media rights relationships. The program brings creative solutions to the partner consortium and to market through the lens of eight core investment categories: Media & Entertainment; Fan/Player Engagement; Athlete/Player Performance; Team & Coach Success; Venue & Event Innovation; Fantasy Sports & Betting; esports; and the Business of Sports. Visit www.comcastsportstech.com to learn more.
About Boomtown
Boomtown designs and operates exclusive, custom, and turnkey innovation platforms that unlock the power of open innovation for major corporations and organizations. Unlike traditional accelerators that mainly benefit investors, Boomtown Innovation Platforms are custom-tailored for corporate development, leveraging outside innovation to generate business growth and solve vexing corporate challenges, creating a long-term competitive advantage. Since 2014, Boomtown has successfully executed more than 20 innovation programs and invested in nearly 250 startups, achieving a portfolio value of more than $1.5 billion. For more information visit https://boomtownaccelerators.com/
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