Accessibility & Inclusivity

News, features & insights from the world of SportsTech. Every fortnight

Packed newsletter this edition, covering our Accessibility & Inclusivity through SportsTech theme for August, an update to our database, an upcoming SportsTech startup event & the top news as usual.

Feature Article

SportsTech Allstars for Aug: Accessibility & Inclusivity through SportsTech

Sports and SportsTech is for everyone. 

We spent the month of August speaking to startups that are making that maxim a reality. 

Tech in sports accessibility is usually associated with prosthetics, wheelchairs, even archery braces, where there have been some incredible advancements. 

However we wanted to focus on solutions where tech is being used to widen the spectrum of who can participate and enjoy sports. Here’s a piece we wrote on how SportsTech can drive inclusivity, for athletes and fans.

On our podcast we spoke with founders that are changing the game for the differently abled. That are allowing athletes and fans to access, participate in, and enjoy sports they are passionate about, irrespective of their impairment.

Here’s a recap of our Accessibility & Inclusivity through SportsTech month on the SportsTech AllStars Podcast

Paralympic Silver medalist Ali Jawad from Accessercise: A fitness app created specifically for people with impairments

Elodie Draperi from Give Vision: A headset making live sports in stadiums & arenas more accessible for visually impaired fans

🕪 Tim Devine from Action Audio: A solution to make sports broadcasts accessible to people living with blindness or low vision

STX Update: STDB Refresh

SportsTech Database is getting an update

When SportsTechDB was launched in late 2019 we were super excited to have a 1000+ users signed up in less than 24 hours. 

While we’ve been actively maintaining the database product, we felt that 4 years is long enough. Another facelift wouldn’t cut it, time for a major upgrade.

So if you’re one of the nearly 4k registered users, you will have access to the current version of the tool only for a few more weeks while we transition into the shiny new version we are working on. 

More interactive, smarter dashboards and some added metrics to identify the hottest SportsTech startups.

If you’re interested in being part of our current closed group beta, sign up below. We’re limiting this to 50 users for now. The goal is to have the public beta up by mid-September.

More updates to follow.

Want to get featured in our content? 

Get in touch to find out about our partnership options.

A word from the students of the University of St. Gallen organizing the Impulse Summit 2023

Impulse Network – Start-Up Competition

Join us at the Impulse Start-Up Competition on October 17th in cooperation with SportsTechX!

Calling all sports and tech enthusiasts! The Start-Up Competition is set to rock St. Gallen on October 17th. We’re seeking 6 cutting-edge startups to pitch their ideas before a live audience and a panel of sports industry experts.

The winning Start-Up doesn’t just take home 5,000 CHF but also scores an exclusive access with a dedicated session at the Impulse Summit 2023, taking place November 9th & 10th.  

 Applications closed September 8th 

Top News from the World of SportsTech

2 more SportsTech fund announcements. That’s now 7 in total since the start of July. Seems like everyone wants to be a SportsTech investor.

The Australian government set up $200m Women’s Sports Fund following the Matildas’ super showing at the Women’s World Cup. And London based athlete investor network The Players Fund announced a new £40m fund

FC Barcelona made headlines with their $1bn Barca Media SPAC deal and raised €120m for their Web3 entity Barca Vision

LaLiga, Globant and Microsoft are coming together to create AI based tech services for sport analytics & broadcasting

AO Startups announced their new cohort of 7 companies

The US Open is the latest to add AI commentary

 The NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube gets innovative with student plans, flexible billing, live chat and more add ons

Top Deals: Gympass $85m, Arccos $20m, Novig $6.4m, SportsVision $3m, CoachBetter $2.9m, Fantasy Life $2m, Whitebalance $1.5m, Mingle Sport €1.25m

Top Acquisitions: DAZN Acq Ata , PlayPulse acquired

Latest from our channels

STX Weekly #70: $200m fund for Women’s Sports, $50m Athlete Investor Network – The Players Fund and more

&  Podcast & Video #177 Action Audio: Sports broadcasts accessible to people living with blindness or low vision

& Podcast & Video #176 Sorius: AI Powered Cycling Coach 

All our podcasts are now available as Vodcasts on our YouTube channel. We will be slowly publishing new episodes and back catalogue from the year simultaneously so there’s plenty to watch.

The post Aug Recap: SportsTech for the Differently Abled, Startup Cup, Top News appeared first on STX.