SportsPro
The worlds of sport and technology have never been as closely aligned as they are now.
Digital platforms, data analytics, and cloud infrastructure have transformed virtually every athletic and commercial activity, whilst simultaneously revolutionising how fans consume sport and interact with their favourite events, teams and players.
The next stage of this evolution will be powered by artificial intelligence (AI), with the inaugural Global Sportstech Report, a new wide-ranging study published by SportsPro and Sportradar, revealing that 82 per cent of sports organisations are already AI adopters.
More sports-specific technologies will also be required, something that 63 per cent of sports organisations agreed with. And it appears as though startups will be instrumental in this, with 71 per cent already working with early stage companies.
SportsPro has long recognised the role of innovative startups in the sports technology ecosystem, with our annual 20 sports tech ideas to invest in now highlighting the companies that everyone should be keeping an eye on.
Now in its seventh year, here is the 20 sports tech ideas to invest in now class of 2026.
Arkero
Location: UK
Funding Stage: Pre-seed
Sector: Operations
Arkero was founded by Shivaas Gulati, co-founder of fintech firm Remitly and investor in English soccer club Southend United. This background, he believes, gives him and Arkero unique insight into what sports organisations actually need from technology and the company believes most would like to make their day-to-day operations more efficient.
The company’s platform sits on top of existing back-end systems, such as communications tools, ticketing, CRM and data storage, to improve visibility and leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to automate workflows.
Arkero already works with several soccer teams, including the Seattle Sounders, Seattle Reign, San Diego FC and Bolton Wanderers, with an initial focus on integrating AI into matchday planning and season ticket renewals. The firm raised US$6 million in pre-seed funding in January 2026, with investors including Alexis Ohanian’s Seven Seven Six.
Bolt6
Location: London, UK
Funding stage: N/A
Sector: Media and content
Founded in 2021, Bolt6’s cloud-based technology is used to power a range of services for rights holders and media, including real-time player and ball tracking, data overlays and augmented reality broadcast graphics.
The company currently works across sports including golf, motorsport and volleyball, counting the likes of the PGA Tour, Volleyball World, Fox Sports, Nascar, the America’s Cup and United Football League (UFL) among its clients.
Bolt6 also has a strong presence in tennis through partnerships with the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), and last year was one of four companies to receive investment from AO Ventures, the venture capital arm of Tennis Australia.
That move deepened the company’s relationship with the Australian Open Grand Slam, for which it delivers electronic line-calling technology, video review services and live stats, among other solutions.
CourtReserve
Location: St Augustine, USA
Funding stage: Unknown
Sector: Operations
CourtReserve’s platform helps racquet sports clubs manage court bookings, memberships, event programming and payments, streamlining operations and helping them capitalise on the exploding popularity of padel and pickleball.
By centralising these activities, clubs can see greater engagement and revenues. In addition to working with grassroots and recreational facilities, CourtReserve also works with governing bodies such as the United States Tennis Association (USTA). In total, it serves more than 2,000 clubs and five million players around the world.
Last October, the company secured a US$54 million investment from growth equity firm Mainsail Partners. It plans to use the new capital to scale the use of its platform and to enhance AI-powered features such as predictive analytics and member insights.
Epicore Biosystems
Location: Boston, USA
Funding stage: Series B
Sector: Performance
Epicore Bioystems is developing sweat-sensing wearables that are helping athletes, coaches and sports scientists understand the impact of hydration on athlete performance and wellbeing.
The company, which spun out of Northwestern University’s Querrey Simpson Institute for Bioelectronics in 2017, creates products that capture metrics such as sweat composition, sweat rate, and fluid loss in real time.
This information is stored in cloud-based platforms, enabling personalised hydration and nutrition programmes and providing another layer of insight for coaching, training and fitness regimes.
The Boston-based firm raised US$26 million in a Series B round in early 2025 and works with sports organisations such as USA Pickleball and the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).
Fanstake
Location: San Francisco, USA
Funding stage: Seed
Sector: Sponsorship
San Francisco-based Fanstake is a crowdsourcing Name, Image and Likness (NIL) platform that allows college sports fans to pledge financial support to potential recruits or current athletes. Should the athlete in question pledge to play for that school, then Fanstake will strike an NIL agreement with them. If the athlete goes elsewhere, then fans get their cash back.
The aim is to even the financial playing field between colleges, allowing smaller teams to attract and retain the best talent and unlocking new revenue streams required to compensate players in the NIL.
FanStake raised US$3 million in a pre-seed round in 2024 and raised an additional US$6.25m last year in a funding round led by Courtside Ventures with participation from Will Ventures, Scrum Ventures and others.
GiveVision
Location: UK
Funding stage: Unknown
Sector: Fan engagement
GiveVision is a not-for-dividend company founded in 2014 that develops assistive technology for people with severe sight impairments.
Its virtual reality-based wearable vision system provides users with an enhanced video feed that can be adjusted for brightness and contrast and can be switched off so fans can zoom in on a particular area of the field of play.
The company’s technology has been used at Premier League soccer club Crystal Palace’s Selhurst Park Stadium and at the All-England Club (AELTC) for the Wimbledon tennis Grand Slam.
Jabbr
Location: Copenhagen, Denmark
Funding stage: Seed
Sector: Performance
Some of boxing’s biggest bouts have been overshadowed by controversial scoring decisions, but a Danish startup founded in 2022 believes it has the technology to prevent those scenarios from happening.
With a lofty promise to change combat sports forever, Jabbr uses AI to generate stats, power video production and score fights across boxing and mixed martial arts (MMA).
After raising an initial US$750,000 in 2023, Jabbr was boosted by a US$5 million seed round in October, which was led by Buckley Ventures and included participation from Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian through his Seven Seven Six venture capital firm.
Now, the company hopes to make its core DeepStrike AI product available across both professional and amateur gyms and fight venues, democratising access to fully automated analytics, highlights and live streaming at a fraction of the cost.
Lingopal.AI
Location: New York, USA
Funding stage: Series A
Sector: Media and content
Lingopal.ai’s artificial intelligence (AI) translation platform translates audio commentary into more than 70 different languages in real time, helping rights holders make their content more accessible in an affordable, scalable manner
Founded in 2023, Lingopal.ai promises its technology maintains the emotion and meaning of the original speaker, and sees its proprietary algorithms and ‘no code’ approach as key differentiators in an increasingly competitive marketplace.
The New York-based firm raised US$14 million in a Series A round led by DCM Ventures in 2025 and counts Italian soccer giants Juventus among its customers.
Muybridge
Location: Oslo, Norway
Funding stage: Unknown
Sector: Stadiums & Venues
Founded in 2020, Muybridge has been developing software-based camera technology with the power to capture and replay live sporting events from any angle. This enables new perspectives for broadcasters and will also unlock entirely new immersive, spatial experiences for digital platforms.
Muybridge’s technology relies on off-the-shelf hardware, which brings down cost, and by dispensing with the moving parts of conventional equipment, the ‘weightless’ cameras can be deployed virtually anywhere in the venue.
Cameras have already been deployed at major tennis tournaments, the company has partnered with Sony’s Hawk-Eye, staged a soccer pilot, and plans to expand into other sports. In 2024, the Norwegian company raised €8 million in a Series A round led by Fairpoint Capital.
Novig
Location: New York, USA
Funding stage: Series B
Sector: Betting & Gaming
Betting startup Novig was founded by two Harvard students in 2021 and after a series of strategic shifts is one of several firms seeking to capitalise on the growth in prediction markets in the US.
Novig is up against some serious competition. But it believes its promise not to take a cut on transactions and with a narrower sports focus will set it apart from industry heavyweights and other predictions upstarts.
After raising US$18 million in a Series A round in 2025, Novig raised another US$75 million in early 2026, giving it a valuation of more than US$500 million.
Out2Win
Location: Syracuse, USA
Funding stage: Seed
Sector: Marketing
Out2Win started as an agency helping connect student athletes with brands to facilitate name, image and likeness (NIL). It has since expanded into a data-driven intelligence platform that uses AI to evaluate athlete marketability and audience alignment, helping companies identify the right student to endorse their products.
The company now offers a database of more than 250,000 athletes that brands can filter by specific criteria and has helped negotiate hundreds of partnerships to date. It raised US$1.3 million in a seed funding round last year and counts several US universities and brands as clients, with the ambition of expanding into high school and professional sports this year.
Output Sports
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Funding stage: Pre-Series A
Sector: Performance
Output Sports’s technology enables coaches, sport scientists and medical staff to capture and analyse athletic data using a single wearable sensor system. Its devices can be used across multiple sports, including soccer, swimming, golf and basketball.
A spin out from University College Dublin, the company currently works with more than 800 sports organisations, including over half of all Premier League soccer teams and multiple title-winning outfits across the US major sports leagues.
Last year, Output Sports closed a pre-Series A funding round of US$4.8 million, which was led by Uni.Fund and included investments from Apex Capital and Dopamine Sports. It plans to use its new funding to accelerate expansion in the US and hiring across several departments.
Owl AI
Location: San Francisco, USA
Funding stage: Seed
Sector: Performance
Owl AI’s automated officiating tools promise to analyse video footage to produce objective scores and predictions, whilst simultaneously providing data-driven insights for coaches and translated live commentaries in more than 40 languages.
The platform has already been used at the X Games, where Owl AI founder Jeremy Bloom is chief executive, for judging and translation.
Last year, the company raised US$11 million in seed funding, with the round led by S32, a firm founded by Google Ventures creator Bill Maris.
The class of 2025: Where are they now? (Click to expand)
Only 140 companies have ever been named an ‘idea to invest in now’ by SportsPro. Not all of those featured have gone on to change the world of sport, but many have become integral partners for the industry or been acquired by tech giants eager to expand their portfolio. Others have adapted their vision or morphed into something entirely new.
This year’s cohort will be looking to emulate the success of previous intakes, including several members of the class of 2025 who have since raised fresh funding, advanced their commercial strategies, and made further technological advancements.
Camb.AI has gone from strength to strength, with its real-time AI translation capabilities now used by a wide range of roghts holders and broadcasters, including Ligue 1, Eurovision Sport, and the Australian Open. It raised another US$11 million in a pre-Series A bridge round in March 2025.
Fastbreak.AI raised US$40 million to expand its smart scheduling technology late last year, with the National Basketball Association (NBA) now among its investors.
Meanwhile ASB Glassfloor has gone from strength to strength, launching ASB Arena and Event Services to accelerate its international expansion.
Peripheral Labs
Location: Toronto, Canada
Funding stage: Seed
Sector: Media & content
Periperhal Labs is using sensors and algorithms developed for self-driving cars to transform data into 3D renderings of camera footage in near-real time. This volumetric 3D footage will make sports broadcasting more immersive and personalised, with viewers able to watch sport from any angle or track certain athletes.
The footage can also help officials make more accurate decisions and even provide coaches and athletes with the ability to analyse biomechanics more effectively.
The Canadian company raised US$3.6 million in seed funding last year and is also part of the NBA’s Launchpad programme.
Raven Controls
Location: Glasgow, UK
Funding stage: Unknown
Sector: Stadiums & Venues
Glasgow-based Raven Controls’ cloud-based events platform allows operators to log, track and respond to safety and security issues at sporting venues in real time. The platform allows users to be proactive rather than reactive, enabling collaboration between internal and external teams and powering public-facing features such as fan engagement and behavioral and safety reporting
The company now supports six Premier League clubs, works with Uefa, and has expanded into the US, where it works with several major league teams. It has also participated in the Australian Open’s ‘AO Startups’ tech accelerator.
SponsorCX
Location: Utah, USA
Funding stage: Unknown
Sector: Sponsorship
Headquartered just outside of Salt Lake City, SponsorCX builds a sponsorship management CRM which is used by professional sports teams in all five US major leagues and college athletic departments. The company’s co-founders are Creed Mangrum and Jason Smith, who had stints at the Utah Jazz and IMG before moving brand side with Mountain America Credit Union.
Designed for both rights holders and brands, SponsorCX’s all-in-one platform centralises every stage of the sponsorship lifecycle, all the way from the sales process through to account management, inventory tracking, asset scheduling, and reporting.
Last April, the company closed a US$4.6 million investment round led by Kickstart, a Utah-based early-stage venture firm. The plan is to use that funding to develop the platform with new brand-focused features that enhance communication between sponsors and their rights holder partners, while also aiding further expansion across sales, marketing, customer success, and product development.
SportAI
Location: Oslo, Norway
Funding stage: Unknown
Sector: Performance
As its name suggests, SportAI wants to revolutionise coaching through AI-powered video analysis tools. Its technology analyses and interprets camera footage to deliver real time statistics and highlights that can be used to enhance performance.
Founded in 2023, the Oslo-based startup has raised US$5.7 million to date and last year secured US$3 million in an oversubscribed funding round. Backers include Norwegian tennis ace Casper Ruud, investment fund Altitude Capital, and US men’s soccer international Alejandro Bedoya.
Endre Holen, who formerly led McKinsey’s global tech and media sector, now chairs the company.
SportAI plans to use the funding to expand its reach into more facilities, more training apps, and even into live broadcasts.
Past lists of 20 sports tech ideas to invest in now
TeamFeePay
Location: Belfast, UK
Funding stage: Unknown
Sector: Grassroots
TeamFeePay was co-founded by Northern Irish soccer coach Liam McStravick who realised time spent on administration such as collecting fees from players before training was a distraction from matters on the pitch.
The company’s software platform helps grassroots clubs and coaches not just with payments, but also fixture, planning, training sessions, events and other admin tasks.
TeamFeePay currently supports more than 1,000 clubs and almost 300,000 users and recently secured UK£9 million (US$12.1 million) in funding from private equity and the Investment Fund for Northern Ireland (IFNI).
Track Titan
Location: London, UK
Funding stage: Seed
Sector: Performance
Founded in 2021 by former professional racer Max Teichert, Track Titan wants to be come the ‘Strava for motorsport’, offering a digital coaching and community platform for sim racing drivers of all ability levels.
It plans to make coaching more accessible, with AI analysing lap data and delivering insights for games including EA Sports’ F1 series, Assetto Corsa and the iRacing simulator. Track Titan also partners with hardware manufacturers to integrate its software into sim racing equipment, to enhance immersion and performance analysis.
The platform has more than 200,000 users and raised US$5 million in a seed round last December, co-led by Partech and Roger Ehrenberg’s Game Changers Ventures. On chief executive Martin Hoffmann and Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah also participated in the investment.
VeloVisa
Location: Kansas City, US
Funding stage: Unknown
Sector: Operations
VeloVisa is tackling one of the most laborious administrative activities in professional sport by creating a bespoke immigration and travel authorisation platform to help automate the process required to obtain a P-1 visa in the US.
Its software enhances data visibility through department-specific dashboards and workflows can be customised depending on a team’s requirements or a country’s entry requirements.
VeloVisa works with 17 National Hockey League (NHL) and Major League Baseball (MLB) franchises and estimates it has reduced time spent performing immigration administrative tasks for both sports by 83 per cent.
AI promises transformation, but most sports organisations struggle with implementation. This April, SportsPro London will reveal what’s actually delivering ROI today – from fan personalisation to ticketing revenue – as well as case studies from those making it work. Learn more here.