PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, Comcast announced the second class of the Comcast NBCUniversal SportsTech Accelerator, powered by Boomtown, has secured 21 pilots, partnerships, and commercial deals as a result of their participation in the customized startup program. Over the past three months, the 10 companies from the 2022 accelerator collaborated with experts from Comcast, NBCUniversal, Sky, and Boomtown Accelerators, along with SportsTech’s advisors, to improve the startups’ readiness for commercial success. These founders will pitch their businesses, showcase new technologies, and celebrate their accomplishments during the accelerator’s annual Demo Day, broadcasting at 12 pm ET today.
One of the hallmarks of Comcast NBCUniversal SportsTech is the access startups receive and the relationships they forge with the accelerator partners, which includes NBC Sports, Sky Sports, Comcast Spectacor and Golf – alongside NASCAR, WWE, and PGA TOUR, and three US Olympic sports organizations: U.S. Ski & Snowboard, USA Swimming, and USA Cycling.
During the accelerator, entrepreneurs worked one-on-one with SportsTech advisors as part of the program’s custom curriculum focusing on go-to-market strategies, fundraising, sales, marketing and branding, product design, personal growth, company culture, and working at enterprise scale.
Additionally, this year founders gained exclusive, behind-the-scenes access to three major sports partner events in Texas: NASCAR’s Circuit of Americas, PGA TOUR’s Valero Texas Open, and WWE’s Wrestlemania. Over eight days, startups met with leaders from NASCAR operations, race teams and pit crews, and then learned how the PGA TOUR executes on its ‘every shot live’ vision, including a deep dive on the broadcasting technology utilized by NBC Sports. Founders were able to gain real-world exposure and see how their products and technologies could help bring these kinds of moments to life for presenters, fans, audiences, athletes, and sponsors alike. This enhanced visibility also allowed founders to network and engage face to face with senior decision-makers at partner organizations to advance business traction on current proofs of concept and pilots, while exploring future opportunities to earn commercial deals.
“One of Comcast NBCUniversal SportsTech’s differentiators is the incredible collaboration, engagement, and shared innovation between startups and partners. These founders developing game-changing technologies have unique opportunities to work directly with senior decision-makers at some of the top brands in sports around the world,” said Jenna Kurath, Vice President, Startup Partnerships and Head of Comcast NBCUniversal SportsTech. “This teamwork mentality delivers tangible value to advisors and founders alike, as they build on each other’s insights and needs to create transformational businesses. We are so proud of what has been accomplished by these entrepreneurs over the past three months and know that it is just the beginning for these companies.”
Since the program’s launch in 2021, the first class of accelerator alumni have participated in 30 pilots and partnerships with SportsTech partners, including 9 commercial deals to date. Some of these alumni were able to join founders, advisors, and mentors as part of this year’s Demo Day celebration during a ‘Startup Spotlight’ event for investors and ecosystem partners.
The 2022 class and special guest speakers will discuss the outcomes, learnings, and their ideas during this afternoon’s Demo Day presentation which is broadcasting at 12 pm ET here.
Applications are also now open for the 2023 accelerator class. For those interested in applying to join the next Comcast NBCUniversal SportsTech accelerator and to learn more about the program’s eight focus areas: media and entertainment, fan/player engagement, athlete/player performance, team and coach success, venue and event innovation, fantasy sports and betting, esports, and the business of sports, visit www.comcastsportstech.com. SportsTech is a key part of Comcast NBCUniversal’s Startup Engagement initiative, a comprehensive approach to partner with startups to create and elevate innovative technologies that benefit the company’s customers and communities.
Meet the 2022 class of the Comcast NBCUniversal SportsTech Accelerator, powered by Boomtown:
BookSeats.com, Toronto, Canada
BookSeats.com simplifies the way fans travel by allowing users to book custom packages that include any combination of flights, hotels, and/or tickets to events around the world.
The company’s unique white label technology is being piloted by the GolfPass team at NBC Sports Next to automate the booking of golf, hotel, and airline packages in a single itinerary, for the first time.
HeadVantage, Arlington, Virginia
HeadVantage visually captures the “impossible” moments and insights in sports, fused with biometric and performance data, from the athlete’s vantagepoint.
In just a few short weeks, HeadVantage moved from proof of concept to pilot to live content on the GolfPass Instructional network showing the point of view of the renowned instructor Martin Hall, host of the Golf Channel’s School of Golf. HeadVantage is also scoping opportunities with other SportsTech partners, including the PGA TOUR and Sky Sports.
Ice Cream Social, Newport Beach, California
Ice Cream Social is a widget that can easily bolt onto any website or checkout flow, rewarding word of mouth marketing for the digital world we live in today - essentially turning all your customers into advocates for your brand.
The company has worked closely with NBC Sports, NBCUniversal Local, NBC News Group, NBC Golf, and other founders within the program to show integration paths to put their one-of-a-kind technology as an embedded part of an event, media, or merchandising workflow.
LetzChat, Westlake Village, California
LetzChat translates customer interactions in real-time into the viewer’s language. This includes video (VOD subtitling), websites, mobile apps, text messages, chat support, and even Live Subtitling. The tech offers 100+ languages, with 94.5% - 98.7% translation accuracy, according to the company.
The team has completed or is executing 11 proofs of concepts, pilots, and business deals with many Comcast NBCUniversal SportsTech partners. Their approach, simplicity, and speed has helped them build a ‘home run’ technology and the team is in the final stages of security validation before going live in a commercial setting.
Local Sports Network, Austin, Texas
Local Sports Network is a digital community that strengthens ties between sports fans, high schools, and athletes.
The company is completing a technical proof of concept with SportsEngine and is moving toward a commercial relationship while also exploring possibilities with several other partners.
Meetlete, San Diego, California
Meetlete is a fan engagement platform that allows fans to experience a four-minute meet-and-greet with their favorite athletes, coaches, and sports personalities.
During the accelerator, Meetlete has been exploring opportunities with NASCAR and the Xfinity Marketing team to quickly and easily facilitate short virtual experiences between Xfinity Racing Series drivers and Xfinity Rewards participants.
Moneyline, Atlanta, Georgia
MoneyLine is a sports and entertainment game against the house that gives fans a chance to win money more simply and creatively than ever before.
The company is in the final stages of an NBC Sports proof of concept created to align with the NBA Finals and exercise the unique Moneyline customer acquisition and retention techniques in the real money betting ecosystem.
Movrs, Los Angeles, California
Movrs empowers the next generation of sports content experiences by utilizing machine learning to generate biomechanically accurate motion data – live and in real-time.
After completing a live demonstration, the company is now working with the Sky Sports team to scope a paid pilot (in combination with some of the Sky award winning in-house technology), with potential sports analysis growth in areas such as Cricket, Golf, Boxing and other sports markets.
tiptapSPORTS, Burlington, Ontario, Canada
tiptapSPORTS brings an enhanced touchless payments experience at sporting events of all sizes, while letting fans support young athletes through touchless giving solutions in the community.
The company has completed proofs of concept with multiple partners including the PGA TOUR, WWE, NASCAR, NBC Golf and several sports foundations throughout the accelerator and is currently working to finalize long term deals with several partners.
Uru Sports, Traverse City, Michigan
Uru Sports is the global professional network helping elite athletes answer "what's next" by providing high-value opportunities, insights, and connections.
The company has completed a proof of concept and is now scoping a pilot with athletes from U.S. Ski & Snowboard while simultaneously working on opportunities with other partners to uncover new talent using the Uru platform.
About Comcast Corporation
Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA) is a global media and technology company that connects people to moments that matter. We are principally focused on connectivity, aggregation, and streaming with 57 million customer relationships across the United States and Europe. We deliver broadband, wireless, and video through our Xfinity, Comcast Business, and Sky brands; create, distribute, and stream leading entertainment, sports, and news through Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, Universal Studio Group, Sky Studios, the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks, multiple cable networks, Peacock, NBCUniversal News Group, NBC Sports, Sky News, and Sky Sports; and provide memorable experiences at Universal Parks and Resorts in the United States and Asia. Visit www.comcastcorporation.com for more information.
About Comcast NBCUniversal SportsTech
Comcast NBCUniversal invests in the best sports tech startups in the world. We back this investment by providing our startups with a rigorous, custom curriculum, and we surround our entrepreneurs with a dream team of sports industry advisors and experts who are passionately dedicated to helping them succeed. Comcast SportsTech features a partnership of four of Comcast NBCUniversal’s sports brands - NBC Sports, Sky Sports, Comcast Spectacor and Golf – alongside NASCAR, WWE, and PGA TOUR, and three US Olympic sports organizations: U.S. Ski & Snowboard, USA Swimming, and USA Cycling. This network of partnerships brings an early lens into innovation solutions, exclusive access to research and business insights, and differentiated value to Comcast’s media rights relationships. The program brings creative solutions to the partner consortium and to market through the lens of eight core investment categories: Media & Entertainment; Fan/Player Engagement; Athlete/Player Performance; Team & Coach Success; Venue & Event Innovation; Fantasy Sports & Betting; esports; and the Business of Sports. Visit www.comcastsportstech.com to learn more.
