#98 📣 Exclusive Insights: Conversations with Top Innovators in Esports

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Closing out September with a recap of our focus on Esports + webinar.

Given all the recent funding news, we're already looking forward to next week's investment recap. A good way to round off Q3 and maintain optimism for a strong finish to the year.

As always, have a great weekend!

LIVE Recap: Esports- The Evolving Landscape

✅ Tune in for a recap of some really interesting conversations we've had about what is happening in the world of Esports & Gaming, especially in Saudi Arabia. Including conversations with:

🎙 Ralf Reichert: CEO of Esports World Cup Foundation (former CEO of ESL)

Ralf and his brothers co-founded ESL, and embarked to build the largest stages for esports. ESL has since become the mega esports brand, culminating in a billion-dollar transaction in 2022 to form ESL Faceit Group - EFG. In his new role leading the Esports World Cup, Ralf and his team are in the next phase of building mega stages.

🎙 Mike Milanov: Qiddiya Gaming Chairman (former Team Liquid)

As Chairman of the Advisory Board, Gaming & Esports at Qiddiya, Milanov spearheads the development of the global gaming and esports hub, the Qiddiya City Gaming & Esports District, ensuring it boldly aligns with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030. He oversees projects ranging from cutting-edge esports arenas to themed gaming hotels, all infused with the latest tech and architectural ingenuity.

🎙 MJ Acosta-Ruiz: On-air host for NFL Media, Sideline Reporter for ESPN Deportes’ Monday Night Football and Anchor of ESPN’s SportsCenter in Los Angeles

The Emmy Award winning journalist became the first  woman of color to host a show at NFL Media. Apart from her ‘on-screen’ and ‘on-stage’ host roles, MJ is a active proponent of growing Women's Sports as host and Executive Producer of “Like a Girl” a show focused on telling stories of female athletes and women in sports

🎙 Andrew Chen: General Partner, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z)

Andrew Chen is a General Partner for A16Z GAMES, focused on the intersection of tech and gaming. During the episode he talks in depth about gaming, fantasy sports and esports. Followed by the things that eSports and gaming could learn from sports to enhance itself, and how storytelling is key in all of it. What are the stories? How do you create that conflict? How do you create these anchor events to bring that together?

Alongside takeaways from these conversations, during the webinar we'll cover topics around the current and future state of esports and innovation. 

Save the Date: 3rd October, Thursday, 4pm CET

Applications Open: SPORTS TECH BOOTCAMP!

🏆 A Certificate course in Sports Innovation and Technology for those looking to advance their career in the sports industry. Because the future of sports is driven by tech.

✅ Live & Recorded content over 6 weeks, covering

• Overview of the Sports Tech Market

• Latest Trends & key developments

• Real world use-cases and examples

And plenty more. A 'No BS' guide to the current state of innovation in sport. Only 10 seats in the first edition. At an inaugural offer price of € 649.

Application Deadline: 1 November, 2024.

World Football Summit Awards 2024: Most Innovative Supplier

We are thrilled to announce the winner of the Most Innovative Supplier at World Football Summit Awards 2024: Neoma- Seamless operations for world-class journeys at scale.

Shoutout to the other finalists: skills.lab by Anton Paar SportsTec and Stampix BV

Find out more here.

Top News from the World of Sports Tech & Biz

🚀 Lionel Messi launched his Production Company named 525 Rosario. A joint venture with SMUGGLER Entertainment, 525 Rosario will create new editorial content.

🏀 The NBA Africa Triple-Double Accelerator announced startup winners at their Demo Day. The four prize-winning companies were- Tix Africa, Salubata, HustleSasa and UBR VR.

⛳ Topgolf launched an immersive experience on Fortnite's UEFN platform. Players can dive into a fully interactive version of the Topgolf experience within Fortnite's expansive universe. 

👕 Puma is going to tap into generative AI for its branding and online sales efforts, as part of an expanded partnership with Google Cloud. 

🏈 Genius Sports partnered with Reddit to power the new live sports scores feature with official NFL data. Essentially, when users visit team and league Subreddits with dynamic NFL scoreboards enabled, they will be able to instantly access live scores and real-time stats, powered by hig quality, official data.

⚽ Everton FC have been taken over by the Friedkin Group.

Money Talks:

💰 Munich-based EGYM closed a Series G round of $200 million at a post-money valuation of more than $1.2 billion, from L Catterton and Meritech.

💰 OxeFit, a Texas based company into AI-driven health and fitness experiences, raised $17.5 million in funding, bringing the total to over $70 million, to date.

💰 CUDIS, the company behind the first Web3 and AI-powered wellness ring, raised $5 million in a funding round, led by Draper Associates, to challenge Oura Ring in the wearables market. 

💰 Liveday, a Helsingborg-based startup focused on sports event management, raised €350k in a new funding round, with former NHL star Henrik Zetterberg as one of two new investors. 

💰 Golf GameBook raised €2.5 million ($2.7 m) in a funding round from Spanish and Nordic investors.

💰 Health tech startup Exakt Health, which offers an app providing customized therapy plans for sports injury recovery, raised €2.2 million ($2.4 m) in Seed funding. 

💰 Italian traveltech startup Mapo Tapo raised €1.15 million ($1.28 m) in a Seed funding round, orchestrated with the support of the Argo acceleration program. 

💰 Vald, an Australian tech company for musculoskeletal tracking, received a growth equity investment from FTV Capital, for an undisclosed amount. 

🤝 Fastbreak.ai, an AI-driven sports scheduling tech company, acquired Tourney Pro, provider of tournament management solutions for youth sports, for an undisclosed amount. 

💰 FluidLogic announced a Series A Extension financing round of $15 million led by Solyco Capital, to transform high-performance hydration.

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