- SportsTechX Weekly
- Posts
- Featured #9 🏆 Apply Now: PEAK Startup World Cup Global Qualifier
Featured #9 🏆 Apply Now: PEAK Startup World Cup Global Qualifier
Plus check out insights from the latest Football Tech Report
Featured by SportsTechX: Interviews, articles, events, and more
🏆 PEAK STARTUP WORLD CUP
Join the Global Qualifier for the PEAK Startup World Cup, hosted by SportsTechX
We’re partnering with PEAK, the global home of SportsTech & innovation, to launch the inaugural PEAK Startup World Cup - and SportsTechX is hosting the Global Qualifier.
This is your chance to pitch on the world stage in-front of our expert judges, connect with top investors, and battle it out for $10,000+ cash prize plus other prizes, including free booths and tickets to PEAK and memberships to the Intelligence Hub PRO.
SportTechX Global Qualifier:
- Format: Virtual pitch competition hosted by SportsTechX
- Qualifier Prizes: Free Booth + Tickets + Investor/Accelerator Access at PEAK (worth $7,500+) - more details below.
- When: 3pm CET / Thursday 29th January
- Pitch Format: 3-minute quickfire pitch + 3-minute Q&A
- Apply to pitch
- Register to watch
Categories:
1. For Athletes (Activity & Performance)
2. For Fans (Fan Engagement, Content, Streaming, Ticketing, Fantasy & Betting)
3. For Executives (Venues, Management & Organization)
We’ll shortlist the top 9 startups (3 per category) to compete during the SportsTechX Global Qualifier. One winner from each category will progress to the Finals at PEAK
What Finalists Receive at PEAK 2026
- Booth + free tickets to PEAK 2026 (worth $7,500+)
- Access to investors, accelerators & media coverage across the SportsTechX and PEAK networks
- 6-months complimentary access to STX Intelligence Hub PRO (worth $1000)
- Invitation to pitch on stage during the Finals
- $10,000+ cash prize for the global winner
- Runners-up receive booths for PEAK 2027
Eligibility
- Under 5 years old
- Less than $1M annual revenue
- Less than $5M raised
- Fewer than 25 employees
Apply now to join the Global Qualifier and earn your spot on the biggest SportsTech stage in the world.
Note: Applications close January 23rd 2026.
đź”— FOOTBALL TECH REPORT 2025
$7.7 Billion invested in Football Tech over the last 5 years
A deep dive into what's happening in football innovation.
Why now? Simple: FIFA World Cup 26 is less than 12 months away, and we wanted to take stock of where the industry actually is. A lot has changed since our last report (FTR2020), and it felt like the right time to map out the landscape before one of sport’s biggest events kicks off.
Let’s start with numbers, which tell quite a story.
$7.7 billion in global football tech deals since 2020 - with $2.2 billion just in H1 2025.
Europe leads the way with ~60% of that investment, though North America isn't far behind at 33%.
And here's something that jumped out at us: funding for Fan solutions has shot up from 63% to 80% over the last 18 months (2024-25).
If you're investing in this space, building in it, or trying to figure out where football tech is actually headed versus where the hype says it's going - this report is meant to cut through the noise. We're at an inflection point where billions are being deployed, but the fundamental questions about value, adoption, and what fans actually want remain surprisingly unsettled.
“The money has arrived, the tech is here. Now comes the harder part: figuring out what works.”
Which region attracted the most funding?
Between 2020 and H1 2025, no surprise that Europe dominated as the clear leader in football investment with $4.6B across 173 rounds. North America followed with $2.6B across 51 rounds, but unlike Europe, activity was heavily concentrated in 'Football Also' startups ($2.31B) compared to just $291M in 'Football Only'. Overall, the chart underscores that while Europe leads in both scale and diversity of deals and
North America’s football investment is driven almost entirely by multisport plays, while solutions across the rest of the world remain significantly underfunded..”
Top Funded Companies of all time?
Across both leaderboards for companies that only cater to football (Football Only) and companies that have football among other sports (Football Also), the funding is heavily concentrated in fan, content, and media driven platforms, with Sorare, OneFootball, and DAZN accounting for a disproportionate share of capital raised. Beyond these leaders, investment spreads across performance hardware, data, ticketing, gaming, fantasy, merchandise, and immersive experiences, pointing to a market that is diversifying rather than fragmenting. London and New York emerge as the primary global hubs, while the US hosts the majority of scaled platforms, reflecting where capital, distribution, and platform ambition continue to cluster.
Football Only - Sorare - $738.4 million | Football Also - DAZN - $1,827.0 million |
Which emerging technologies do you believe will most impact the football industry in the next 3 - 5 years?
Sustainability tech will have the greatest impact when adapted from proven solutions in other industries. While sports-specific innovations show promise, cross-sector technologies—like energy optimization or waste management—tend to offer greater scalability and maturity, making them more viable for long-term collaboration.
The most disruptive applications will surely come from the combination of technologies. The sensorization of all aspects of the game, training and even the passion of the fans is a valuable basis on which to work. The challenge is to translate it into value by unlocking a deeper vision of the sport. And here AI emerges as a fundamental lever for data processing for tactical purposes, health prediction or improvement of experience.
In the next five years, football will be transformed by technologies that go far beyond performance on the pitch. Advances in nutrition, hydration, mental health, stress evaluation, financial tools for elite athletes, and injury prevention will redefine athlete care. At the same time, talent detection (mainly for women's sports), new models to measure sponsorship ROI, and fan-centric solutions — from immersive live experiences to innovations designed for younger audiences — will shape the game’s future commercially and socially.
Read more insights from the 15 leading visionaries in world football who are driving the ecosystem's growth and success through their leadership of transformative initiatives all over.
- Albert Mundet, Barça Innovation Hub
- Andy Selby, Premier League
- Alejandro Ugarrio, Atleti Lab
- Charles Frémont, UEFA Innovation Hub
- Karla Hernández, Mexican Football Federation
- Christopher Schlosser, Major League Soccer
- Debora Saldanha, Clube Atlético Mineiro
- Preeti Shetty, Brentford FC
- Hendrik Weber, Deutsche FuĂźball Liga
- Sudarshan Gopaladesikan, Newcastle United
- Carolina Chiappero, Juventus Forward
- Jan Alessie, World Football Summit
- Tomasz Kowalczyk, Polish Federation Innovation Hub
- Giel Kirkels, KNVB Football Innovation Hub
- Sebastian Koppers, DFB Akademie
Reply