Four sports technology startups, including the women-focused fan video brand The Relish and automated highlights clipper Reely, were announced this week to Stadia Ventures’ accelerator program for sports business startups.
Winners named to the fall 2017 cohort of the Sports Business Accelerator — Reely, The Relish, RockDaisy and UPGRADED — were pulled from more than 170 applications from around the world. They’ll receive a combination of equity investment, intensive mentoring and connections to top sports business executives.
Santa Monica, Calif.-based Reely, previously named as one of the sports business companies in Stadia’s spring cohort of equity investments, has developed a platform that uses deep learning artificial intelligence to detect, clip and distribute top highlights from sporting events.
In April, Reely struck a deal with Major League Lacrosse to automatically clip game highlights.
New York City-based RockDaisy has created a data visualization platform for front office staff, coaches and scouts built by former senior technologists at the NFL. Its clients include NFL, NHL and NBA teams, though it also has expanded to include non-sports clients, including the New York Police Department and National Geographic.
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San Francisco-based The Relish is a Cheddar-like sports media brand for female fans with a focus on original video programming, local events and technology.
Also based in San Francisco, UPGRADED converts traditional event tickets into secure digital assets that are deployed onto an Ethereum Blockchain. The “smart tickets” use digital encryption to protect users against fraud. UPGRADED clients include MLB and NBA teams, as well as The Dream Bowl.
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The 170 applicants were narrowed down to 10, which attended Stadia’s Finalist Pitch Day at a law firm in St. Louis to pitch to more than 130 sports and business executives. The four winners embarked on a 12-week immersive business development boot camp this week.
Their experience will culminate with a Demo Day at the St. Louis Blues’ Scottrade Center on Dec. 13 when they’ll showcase their progress to investors, sports business industry executives and reporters.
This is the fifth cohort of the Stadia Ventures Sports Business Accelerator. Eighteen other companies have graduated from the Stadia Accelerator program, including VNTANA, an augmented reality company that uses holograms to drive fan experiences.