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Solving the Sports Industry's REAL challenges
[September 15, 2020]

Solving the Sports Industry's REAL challenges


LONDON, Sept. 14, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In times of uncertainty and unknown challenges in the sports universe, a new voice starts to emerge. An elite forum of top sports brands and teams have chosen a different innovation leadership stand. 

With over 1,000 applicants coming from 67 different countries, after spending five full months mentoring and supporting the strongest candidates behind the scenes, this venture achieved outstanding results with the great leadership of Ryan McCumber, founder of SportsTech.ai, who led the Clubs & Federations vertical in this program. 

During the demo day that ended the program, the clubs and brands shared over 17 agreed pilots, 24 pilots in the process and seven signed deals in only 3 months of operation. The startups were provided with the opportunity of pitching their idea and explaining the functioning of their company in front of 900 attendees. The process of HYPE's Global Virtual Accelerator and its steps were clearly outlined while the collaborations between startups and multinational companies were presented.

HYPE Founder & President, Amir Raveh said: "This venture proved that even during challenging times, it's possible for all the sports ecosystem to unite and work together in order to find solutions for real challenges, and take the whole sports tech universe a major step forward, in an unusual reality". 

The Winning Startups and Solutions that you cannot afford to miss

Here are the winning startups chosen by the global brands and partners: 

Two startups have made a collaboration with FIBA. HER Technology will be using video overlays on the Basketball Champions League Finals coming up in Athens , and ONE PLAN which helps planning for venue, specifically with event planning for fans and safety in the new reality of Covid-19

Flashplays Live, a real-time prediction game, has their first opportunity working directly with a club as it has been handed the chance to work with the Miami Dolphins to allow fans to play their in game fantasy prop betting contests.  The First game goes live this Sunday in Dolphins home opener vs the Buffalo Bills. Also, in an effort to ensure their fans feel connected as a Miami Dolphins Member, they have created additional Member benefits through a Virtual Membership Pass which are enabled by Pronto

PSG, this year's UEFA Champions League finalists, were already working with VICI Fan Fest as was seen in viewing watch parties for hundreds of fan clubs globally and shown live on Univision for 2M USA viewers during the UEFA finals.

ASER Ventures is very close to an agreement with, Pump Jack Dataworks, as well as BenchVote, a digital campaign creator platform for gamificatio to be used with their subsidiary Eleven Sport,



It seems like the RBFA (Royal Belgium FA) has also used this period of inactivity to increase their proactivity. Big steps have been undertaken by the federation as they have chosen 3 different enterprises to innovate with. On September 8th, during their 5-2 victory against Iceland they tested two technologies VICI Fanfest. and Hear Me Cheer who provide a solution to allow fans at home to cheer during the game and provide them with a stadium like atmosphere.

New York Islanders have agreed on scope for a pilot with Pronto, and still in active discussion with Bbox and VICI.


River Plate, the legendary Argentinian football team, has selected BboxSports and are hoping to have some of their cool merchandise using AR on the shelves by Christmas initially targeting all the River fans in the Spanish market.  They are also exploring future opportunities with VICI Fan Fest.

Toronto Blue Jays from the MLB, have also been ambitious in their innovation plans by selecting Bleachr LLC, and are finalising what a pilot could involve in coming months.

FC Köln, a Bundesliga football team, has also chosen the innovation path as they will join forces with Bleachr LLC, and are finalising what and when to test a pilot. 

Clubs and Federations' Demo Day was undoubtedly one of the most successful ones ever. Various institutions from all around the world joined together to form a community that helps startups pursue their dreams while these companies finally found what they were looking for, in order to innovate. 

The Clubs and Federations Demo Day is only one of six GVA verticals and so HYPE has a number of winning startups

Additional Winners by Vertical:

HYPE SPIN® Accelerator Taiwan, powered by IAPS and the Taiwanese Sports Administration.
HYPE Award: MbranFiltra (Taiwan) & Wave Wear (South Korea)
IAPS Award: Uniigym (Taiwan) & BiiB (Malaysia)
Sports Administration Award: Uniigym (Taiwan) & MbranFiltra  (Taiwan
Decathlon Taiwan Choice: MbranFiltra , BiiB & Spogo

The Sports Tech Vertical:  
Most Promising Startup award: Gryppers  
Best Startup Pitch Award: Sport.Vision

Sustainability and Customization Vertical powered by Loughborough University London:

Most Promising Startup award: Gazella  
Best Startup Pitch Award: SKIZO by iRecycle

Esports & Media Vertical Powered by GamingMalta:  

Most Promising Startup award: UpStartSelect
Best Startup Pitch Award: GGPredict

China Sports Tech Powered by Aquabloom Sports Technology Group:  

Most Promising Startup award: Levier Exo S.L.  
Most Promising Startup award:Vilike  
Best Startup Pitch Award: ActiveAR

HYPE just announced a new cycle of the Global Virtual Accelerator, which has officially opened and sports tech startups founders can Pre-register here

About HYPE:

HYPE is the leading global platform for Sports Innovation, with 40k+ members including Startups, Sports Leaders, Clubs, Brands, Investors, and Mentors. HYPE is a proven gateway for converting SportsTech into Business Success. 

Among our network, you can find brands and institutions such as FIBA, River Plate, Miami Dolphins, Sina Sports, Amazon, 1. FC Köln, Loughborough University, and additional strong global partners.  HYPE also created an unmatched success portfolio including 200+ startups that graduated from the HYPE Accelerator, raising more than $180M, and 40% of them have also raised a 2nd round of funding.

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1273570/HYPE_GVA.jpg

For more information, contact: Ms. Roni Goldberger – VP Partnerships, HYPE Sports Innovation.  roni@Hypesportsinnovation.com  

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SOURCE HYPE Sports Innovation


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