#115 🚀New Sports Tech Fund & Cohorts

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News, features & insights from the world of Sports Tech & Biz. Every Week.

Rather we should say new iterations of existing funds / cohorts / lists. Cartan Capital is coming up with fund II, NBA Launchpad announced cohort IV & SportsPro announced ‘ideas to invest in’ list VI.

Busy Busy Busy SportsTech.

Indian Sports Business and Tech Report 2025: Snippet

As we’re gearing up for next week’s launch of our first ever Indian Sports Business and Tech Report, we thought it was fair to share a little snippet of what is to come.

Our Global SportsTech VC Report 2024 will tell you that India is the 2nd biggest SportsTech market in the world for investment from 2020-2024, only behind the US. And 4th biggest in 2024, which wasn’t a great year overall. Yet it’s a SportsTech market that doesn’t get a lot of attention, even within India!

There’s a common misconception that Indian Sports Tech is all about Fantasy Sports- and nothing else. While Fantasy Sports does play a significant role, this perspective certainly doesn't paint the full picture. Which we use data to present.

In the leading image, we’re shared the 4 Pillars of Indian Sports Tech, with a percentage breakup of investment over the last 5 years:

• Fantasy Sports: 61%

• Esports & Gaming: 16%

• Fitness Tech: 15%

• Broadcasting Tech: 7%

• Everything Else: 1%

While Fantasy Sports is a significant majority (and a lot of that is Dream11), other segments are gaining momentum. And there are two that we’re particularly optimistic about.

More on that in our upcoming Indian Sports Business and Tech Report, out next week. Our very first deep dive into this very interesting market.

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Top News from the World of Sports Tech & Biz

🏀 The NBA announced the five companies that will make up the fourth cohort of NBA Launchpad, the league’s initiative to source, evaluate, and pilot emerging technologies. These include: OneCourt, Somnee, SportIQ, Trashie and VReps. 

💰 SportsPro announced their 20 sports tech ideas to invest in now – Class of 2025, the sixth year of publishing this prestigious list.

⚽ Major League Soccer and IMG announced an expanded broadcast partnership. MLS Season Pass on Apple TV will debut a new studio at WWE Headquarters in Stamford.

⚾ The Milwaukee Brewers MLB team announced a range of upgrades for American Family Field ahead of the 2025 season. MLB Go-Ahead Entry will be introduced at the Home Plate West and Third Base gates to ease entry into the ballpark. Express lanes will also return to the ballpark at every entrance.

🏈 Comcast and Dolby to deliver the first-ever Super Bowl in both Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos on Xfinity X1 and the Xfinity Stream App.

🏒 Every Saturday, starting Feb 1, fans will be able to tune in to watch "NHL HOCKEYVERSE Matchup of the Week," a new animated program featuring a 30-minute recap of an NHL regular season game from the week prior.

🏎️ TNT Sports today announced the launch of a brand-new NASCAR Driver Cam experience- exclusive to Max- that will offer motorsports fans the ultimate all-access pass to every driver for every race throughout the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series schedule.

⚽ International sports streaming service DAZN signed an 8 year deal to become the exclusive global OTT partner of the European League of Football (ELF).

🏀 As part of the Orlando Magic’s continuing commitment to innovation, the Magic will host the Orlando Magic Venture Challenge, Powered by LEAD, in collaboration with the DeVos family and LEAD Venture Corporation. It is an exclusive pitch event designed to discover and support innovations in sports, health and wellness, providing up to six companies the opportunity to gain funding, partnerships and mentorships. 

📢 GSIC released ‘The Digital Transformation Trends in Sport Report’, in collaboration with Globant Sportian. Download here. 

📢 Sports is one of the fastest-growing genres on Roblox. Their latest research, conducted in collaboration with Futures Sport & Entertainment revealed key data points.

🎦 Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch confirmed plans to launch a direct-to-consumer streaming service by the end of calendar year 2025. The announcement comes months after the three-way joint venture between Fox, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), and Disney (DIS) for sports streaming fell apart. 

🎟️ Fox sold at least 10 of its 30-second Super Bowl commercial spots for upward of $8 million each. The $7 million figure was already a record, so $8 million sets the bar even higher for next year’s game. 

⚽ Manchester United welcomed the announcement of government support for the project to regenerate the area around Old Trafford.

🚫 U.S. authorities seized $39.5 million worth of counterfeit sports merchandise ahead of Super Bowl LIX, in a crackdown on fake goods being sold to fans.

Money Talks:

💸 Sidley is advising Ariel Investments in a new women’s sports-focused fund, Project Level, which launched on January 30. It has made an initial investment in NWSL’s recently announced Denver based expansion team. 

💸 Cartan Capital, the venture fund started by former pro tennis player CiCi Bellis, is raising $40 million for its second fund for sports and health technology investments.

💰 NODWIN Gaming, a subsidiary of Nazara Technologies, acquired Ukraine-based esports organiser, StarLadder for $ 5.5 million. 

💰 Output Sports, an Irish sports tech company focused on making elite-level sports science simple and scalable, closed a $4.8 million (€4.61 million) pre-A funding round. New investors include Apex Capital, Uni.Fund, and Dopamine Sports. 

💰 Fliip, a company specializing in multi-location operations like commercial gyms, training facilities, and boxing gyms, secured $3.2 million in seed funding to advance its expansion in the fitness industry.

💰 Pickleheads, an Atlanta based provider of a platform for pickleball players to connect and organize games, raised $2.5 million in a seed funding round led by Overline.

💰 Milan-based YDUN, an AI powered health studio, secured €4 million ($4.2m) in a pre-seed funding round led by Limestone Capital.

🤝 EA SPORTS acquired TRACAB Technologies for an undisclosed amount, to enhance sports simulation experiences, delivering exceptional realism to sports fans worldwide.

🤝 Hudl, a global leader in providing cloud-based technology connecting video and data for the sports industry, completed the acquisition of Balltime, for an undisclosed amount. 

🤝 Good Good Golf announced an expanded partnership with NBC Sports and an ownership stake in the TGL’s LA Golf Club for an undisclosed amount.

🤝 Former NFL All-Pro Ryan Kalil and NBA All-Star Blake Griffin acquired a controlling stake in an American football team based in Mexico, rebranded as Osos Monterrey. The duo formed an Athlete Ownership Group that aims to elevate the team and league globally. 

💸 US Ski & Snowboard is open to consider’ private equity investment, as discussed by CEO Sophie Goldschmidt, who is ‘very open-minded’ to institutional capital as she urges FIS to explore all investment opportunities thoroughly.

💸 Boldyn Networks secured $1.2 billion in debt financing to expand its US presence.

💸 English cricket landed a multi-million pound windfall after a Silicon Valley tech consortium won a bidding war with the RPSG Group for a 49% stake in London Spirit, the Hundred team based at Lord's, valued at £295 million. 

Recap from our content archive:

🔙 STX Article: Innovative Fan Engagement- The Future of Sports in the Metaverse, Web3, and Beyond

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

💪🏽 SportsTech AllStars Recap: Global Sports Tech VC Report series.