SportsTech Belgium Accelerator unveils its complete line-up
With an inspiring startup selection and internationally acclaimed coaches ready to train them, the SportsTech Belgium’s acceleration dream team is in the starting blocks for its first season. A unique and exclusive program running from November 15 to January 14 2021 , focused on the SportsTech industry and funding mechanisms. A premiere in Belgium initiated by Agoria, the Royal Belgian Football Association and Wallifornia.
Organized by Agoria, the Royal Belgian Football Federation and Wallifornia, SportsTech Belgium is an ecosystem where sports meet technology, developed to foster Belgian Sports Technology innovations, startups initiatives and entrepreneurship; to build long term cross-fertilization strategy between Belgian sports and technology stakeholders locally and internationally; and to bring Belgium at the fore front of the international SportsTech ecosystem.
After having assembled the top industry players in an exclusive summit that took place on October 14, SportsTech Belgium is back with a unique acceleration program inspired by the methodology developed by Wallifornia over the years in the field of MusicTech. A winning formula based on scouting groundbreaking startups and providing them with mentorship sessions, financial guidance, on-stage presentations and 1/1 meetings with top level sports & e-sports industry executives and VCs.
Startups’ Line-Up
Out of 50+ applications coming from 18 different countries, 10 startups have been hand-picked to take part in the 2021 SportsTech Belgium’s Accelerator. A careful selection made by the initiating partners, as well as an international jury of sport, SportsTech and e-sport experts, based on the startups’ innovative potential, their business model, their potential impact on the industry and the teams’ execution ability.
The resulting team of raw talents will get first-hand training on various topics such as revenue and customer development; sales and negotiation; branding & marketing; IP, rights and data; corporate venturing, fundraising and governance as well as fans and content. For its first edition, the SportsTech Belgium’s acceleration program is glad to count on the following startups:
AppiMonkey (BE, www.appimonkey.eu): AppiMonkey reinvents the digital advertising by creating your own immersiveand unique transmedia storytelling!
ATHLETIN SRL (BE, www.athletin.io): Web and mobile application resulting from scientific research in Sport Sciences and Applied Sciences, whose objective is to provide tools to monitor in an agile way the well-being of the Athlete
ClicknClear (UK, www.clicknclear.com): Officially Licensed Music for Sports or Fitness Mix and Online Events
D-event (BE, www.d-event.io/beta/): Cashless ticketing system using blockchain technology
Equicty nv (BE, www.equicty.com): Innovative digital management solutions for equestrian businesses
FAN+ (AU, www.fanplus.comA): A marketplace claiming to connect sporting fans with their favorite athletes and clubs
FORMYFIT SRL (BE, www.formyfit.com/): Virtual assistant dedicated to running
HYPO-X (CA, www.hypo-x.ca/): First portable altitude training simulator
IDRO (BE/NL, www.idro.world/ ): The first wearable that measures your lactate
Proxy42 (IT, www.proxy42.com): Proxy 42 build a bridge between the physical and digital world and make it universally accessible & actionable thanks to Artificial Intelligence & Augmented Reality
Tropos-AR BV (BE, www.tropos.ar): By combining world class Augmented Reality and gamification, we offer live sports events the same engaging/immersive user experiences from the worlds of videogames and other digital forms of entertainment.
Venly (BE, www.venly.io) : Onboard your users with our easy to implement Wallet services. And experience the full potential with our NFT tools and NFT marketplace
YUVOX ESPORTS SRL / HYPR (BE, https://www.hypr.gg/): Connect, track and compare with fellow gamers and esports Professionals
Learning from the best
To lead these contestants to the top, SportsTech Belgium’s accelerator has gathered references from the sport, SportsTech, esports and VC industries, whether as coaches, speakers, panelists of mentors. Experts representing local pioneers such as Guillaume Neveux – Business Development Manager EMEA at EVS Broadcast Equipment – and international experts such as Ryan McCumber (US) – Former Global Head of KPMG SportsTech, current founder SportstEch.ai and FIST Global Series as well as the Hype Global Virtual Accelerator Program Director – or Rebecca Longawa – a maven in the esports industry who is also the founder of the esports consultancy firm, Happy Warrior.
These experts will be backed by a full network of VC connected to the selected startups and including: Benedikt Hübenthal (Bitkraft, DE), Alex Chalmers (Stadia, US), Matthieu Dallon (Trust E-Sport, FR), Xavier Péters (Wallifornia, BE), Jeanne Cluset (Kima ventures, FR), Loron Orris (Asia Sportstech), Gayatri Sarkar (SheVC), Joseph Tou (Sony Innovation Fund). During the program, two sessions will be entirely focused on connecting the Belgian SportsTech Startups with investors: a dedicated panel on “Discussion with Entertainment Industry & Investors” (December 21) as well as the Demo day at the end of the program (January 14), where startups will have the opportunity to pitch their project in front on an audience of experts and investors.
Strategic partnerships
Through the acceleration program, SportsTech Belgium is happy to count on two strategic partners that will provide recuring and longitudinal insights on the sport industry:
La Source (www.lasource.io): LaSource is a B2B agency based in Europe (Paris), focused on sport, digital and technology. Since 2019, LaSource has been helping hand-picked startups to expand their business across the European Market. As sports organizations are going through digital transformation, LaSource has created a model that gives them access to new innovative and digital solutions to meet their strategic objectives. LaSource puts its market understanding, experience, and passion to bridge the gap between innovative startups and the reality of the sport industry.
N3XT Sports (www.n3xtsports.com): N3XT Sports is a strategic consulting firm specialized in end-to-end innovation, digital, technology, data, and investment strategy. N3XT Sports works with international sporting organizations in football, basketball, and the Olympics, among others, to identify and address their most critical challenges, enabling them to achieve sustainable competitive advantage within the rapidly changing sports landscape. The company was born in 2018 in the world’s epicenter of innovation in Silicon Valley and is headquartered in Barcelona.
Program schedule
November 15: Kick-off
W1: Industry overview
W2: Revenue & customer development
W3: Sales & negotiation
W4: Branding & marketing
W5: IP, rights & data
W6: Corporate venturing, fundraising & governance
W7: Fans & content
W8: Media & PR
January 14: Demo day
About SportsTech Belgium accelerator program
SportsTech Belgium is a program initiated by Agoria, the RBFA and Wallifornia, and supported by a network of high-level partners including Proximus Basecamp and EVS.
About Agoria
Agoria gathers nearly 2000 tech companies, from the manufacturing, the digital and the telecommunications sectors, of which 70% are SMEs. This makes it the largest stakeholder within the Fédération des Entreprises de Belgique (FEB). Agoria has around 200 employees and has offices in Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent, Liege and Charleroi.
About the Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA)
The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) is the official representative of Belgian football. Its mission is the administrative and sporting organization of Belgian football.
About Wallifornia
Wallifornia is an Entertainment & Technology hub based in Liege (Belgium), where startups, professionals & investors develop together the future of their industries.
Contact
Gérôme Vanherf
Director of Wallifornia
gerome@walliforniamusictech.com
+32 498 02 62 66