#106 🦄 9 new Sports Tech Unicorns in 2024, total up to 35

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Another extract from our recent Sports Tech VC Report, this time focused on Sports Tech Unicorns. We know many more of you read this newsletter than have downloaded the report so trust these report highlights are helpful.

This week's edition runs longer than usual due to an abundance of pretty significant industry news. Busy time in Sports tech and investment!

As always, have a great weekend!

9 new Sports Tech Unicorns in 2024!

Excerpt from our latest Global Sports Tech VC Report 2024: Unicorns shaping the sports tech landscape. 

Total number goes up to 35! 

We reported 32 unicorns in 2023. Six of those have since dropped out, while nine (9!) new names have been added. That neat math equation brings us to 35 unicorns in SportsTech.

The emergence of these new unicorns demonstrates Sports Tech’s strength while highlighting the areas of most interest: health and fitness technologies, and fan engagement platforms.

It's worth noting that we reported 38 in 2022, so the industry isn't at its peak. However, in what has been a rather dour year for SportsTech from a dealflow perspective, it's great to see this number grow. A clear sign that once investors find a solid foundation, they're eager to keep building.

The new unicorns in 2024 with their valuations are:

1. OURA- Oulu, Finland: Now $5 B (per latest $75 m funding round, after our report was published)

2. AutoGraph- Los Angeles, USA: $3.7 B

3. Mindbody- San Luis Obispo, USA: $3.0 B

4. eGym- Munich, Germany: $2.1 B

5. Pure Gym- London, UK: $2 B

6. Forte- San Francisco, USA: $1 B

7. Tickpick- New York City, USA: $1 B

8. Minute Media- London, UK: $1 B

9. Vagaro- San Francisco, USA:  $1 B

Note: Valuations shown are from public sources only. Companies without publicly verifiable $1B+ valuations are not included.

For more details on the Unicorns & IPOs list + 15 other pages of in-depth analysis check out the GSTVCR24 PRO edition.

⚡ LIMITED TIME OFFER: The PRO edition of the Global Sports Tech VC Report 2024 also includes a 1 year FREE access to the SportsTechDB PRO. Get both for 999 €

Upcoming Event: Stage set for start-ups and industry leaders alike at SPORT MARKE MEDIEN in Munich

SPORT MARKE MEDIEN will provide a platform on December 2nd and 3rd in Munich to discuss the latest trends, investment opportunities, and strategic approaches that are reshaping the sports business. In several forums, up-and-coming start-ups and renowned industry leaders from the likes of EintrachtTech, NFL Germany and Commercial Sports Media will be offered a stage.

Get a 20% discount on your ticket with the promo code SMM24_SportsTechX.

Top News from the World of Sports Tech & Biz

🤝 ESPN has collaborated with Sony’s Beyond Sports for the 1st-ever animated presentation of an NBA game, called Dunk the Halls, for the Spurs-Knicks matchup on Christmas Day. The announcement follows a similar arrangement with the NFL’s Simpsons Funday Football.

🌐 ESPN added WSC Sports as one of its core partners in the ESPN Edge Innovation Center, announced at the fourth-annual ESPN Edge Innovation Conference in New York. WSC joined Accenture, Microsoft, and Meta as ESPN Edge core partners.

✅ The busy bee’s at ESPN are also testing an AI-generated avatar called FACTS, with the Saturday college football show SEC Nation. With information drawn from ESPN Analytics, it will feature data like the Football Power Index (FPI), player and team statistics, and game schedules. 

💪🏽 Whoopi Goldberg launched the All Women’s Sports Network (AWSN), the first global media channel dedicated exclusively to showcasing women’s sports, in the United States on VIZIO WatchFree+ channel 1367 in the US.  

🤼‍♂️ IBM will be UFC's Official Global AI Partner. The partnership will combine the power of IBM's AI and data platform, watsonx, with the vast global reach of UFC's content platforms to enhance the viewing experience for millions of UFC fans around the world.

🏈 Commissioner Roger Goodell announced there will be eight international NFL games next year, the most for a single season. 

💥 Jake Paul and Mike Tyson‘s heavyweight boxing match was viewed by an estimated 60 million households globally, peaking at 65 million “concurrent streams,” according to data shared by Netflix. Total views estimated at 108 million.

⚾ The National Lacrosse League announced NLL+, a free direct-to-consumer streaming service available internationally, ahead of the 2024/25 season. 

🎾 The International Tennis Hall of Fame (ITHF) and Digital Innovation Partner Infosys launched a digital card game called 'Famers Duel.' 

🏑 EA Sports announced that all six PWHL teams will be added to NHL 25 during their holiday update on Dec. 5 as part of their new multi-year partnership.

⛳ Golf+ will add New Zealand’s Te Arai Links course to its VR game for Meta Quest headsets. 

🤝 Williams Racing announced a new partnership with autonomous ride-hailing company Zoox who will become an Official Regional Partner of Williams Racing on a multi-year agreement.

🤝 The Special Olympics partnered with AI firm Qloo as a tool for its donor database that will help the Special Olympics personalize the user experience for existing donors and identify the members of that community that are highly engaged. 

🏈 The Chicago Bears to launch a virtual history tour of Halas Hall, providing fans with an online experience to explore the franchise's storied past. 

🏈 The Los Angeles Rams collaborated with Genius Sports to provide their fans with augmented, data-driven in-game highlights within SoFi Stadium.

🏈 The two-time Pro Bowl offensive lineman Russell Okung has launched Bitball, a sports league venture that will pay participating athletes in bitcoin.

🏈 Beyoncé is set to perform during Netflix's first-ever NFL Christmas Gameday at halftime of Ravens-Texans live on Netflix this December 25.

🏈 Despite the fanfare, viewership for the German NFL game was weaker this year. After exceeding the 1 million mark last year, this time only around 610k viewers tuned in.

Money Talks:

💰 Former Chicago Bulls star and Basketball Hall of Fame member Michael Jordan became an investor in Courtside Ventures’ next $100M Fund.

💰 Smart ring maker Oura announced that it received a $75 million investment from glucose device maker Dexcom, which brings the company’s valuation to more than $5 billion.

💰 Texas based iOS app for training, Ladder, raised $105M in fresh financing. The round consisted of $15 million in Series B funding led by Point72 Ventures and ADvantage VC. 

💰 FanDuel co-founders Nigel Eccles and Rob Jones launched BetHog, a new cryptocurrency casino and sports betting start-up. This was backed by $6 million in seed funding, led by 6MV. 

💰 The first open and competitive fan-driven Name, Image & Likeness (NIL) platform,  Fanstake, launched this week, backed by $3 million in a pre-seed round led by Susa Ventures and Will Ventures.

💰 GameSquare Holdings secured a $10 million (~£7.8m) convertible note deal with investment entity GigaMoon Media.

🤝 GameAbove Sports, a company focused on global sports business development and strategic investments, announced its acquisition of an ownership stake in the Brisbane Bullets, a premier team in Australia's National Basketball League (NBL). 

🤝 Fulwell 73 and SpringHill Co. joined forces, in a merger that aims to grow in Film, TV, Documentary, Live Events and Branded Content.

🤝 Serial women’s soccer investor Michele Kang has pledged $30 million to US Soccer over the next five years, which is the largest ever made to US Soccer by a woman.

🤝 Andrés Iniesta became a co-owner of the Danish third-tier club Helsingør in the Spain legend’s first major off-field venture since retirement.

🤝 The NFL is set to review the private equity stakes in the Dolphins and Bills— the first two deals proposed under the league’s new policy permitting institutional investment in teams.

🏀 Former NBA All-Star Jayson Williams joined Oaktree Solutions to launch Oaktree Sports Ventures.

Latest from our channels

🔙 STX Article: The Rise of Esports- Transforming the Future of Competitive Gaming.

✅ STX Monthly: Last month’s sports tech dealflow, in case you missed it.

💪🏽 SportsTech AllStars Recap: Innovation in Broadcasting Tech