Stadia Ventures, the St. Louis-based sports innovation hub and accelerator program, is currently seeking sports technology companies for its Spring 2017 cohort, which will begin April 5-7. It will be the fourth edition of the Stadia Accelerator.
The most recent Fall 2016 program saw applications from 20-plus countries, including Indonesia, Denmark, Egypt, Jordan and El Salvador, to name a few. Finalists were narrowed to 10 — as will be the case for the Spring as well — and judged by 83 sports industry professionals from the St. Louis Cardinals, Real Madrid and Philadelphia 76ers to Major League Baseball Advanced Media and the NCAA.
Over the course of the 12-week program, which ultimately sees five companies selected and given up to $100,000 in funding, founders are paired with mentorship teams of four to eight senior individuals who can provide strategic guidance and support throughout the accelerator.
To date, Stadia Ventures has 14 companies in its portfolio through three cohorts, with one of those (Winning Identify) already having a successful exit after it was bought by wearable sports analysis company Blast Motion last August.
Get The Latest Sports Tech News In Your Inbox!
“Stadia is creating a powerful program to fuel activity in the sports entrepreneurial marketplace,” said Chris Zimmerman, President and Chief Executive Officer of the St. Louis Blues, said in a statement. “Great resources, advisors and a passion for innovation makes the Stadia program an invaluable launch pad for emerging concepts.”
Added Philadelphia 76ers vice president of strategy Akshay Khanna: “The Stadia Ventures demo day was an incredible experience. Getting to see their broad network of advisors and mentors, and understanding the guiding role they’ve played in the success of the startups in their program was an inspiration for new accelerators such as ours. I look forward to continuing to work with Stadia; they’ve been amazing partners and have been instrumental in helping to set up the infrastructure lab here at the Sixers Innovation Lab.”
The application window for the current cohort closes on Saturday, Jan. 14 at midnight CST while Finalist Pitch Day is scheduled for Feb. 21 and 22 in St. Louis.