Australian Sportstech News

Coach Welly, a Queensland-based fitness & health tech start-up today announced its recent success in raising pre-seed funding, valuing the company at A$4.25M. The funding round was led by AngelLoop, and included Brisbane Angels and a group of strategic investors in Australia, Singapore and the USA who share Coach Welly's vision for helping millions of people to measurably improve their health and wellness.

A new global search is underway to find the most ambitious and creative sport technology innovators  for the next intake of AO StartUps. Since its launch in 2022, AO StartUps has selected 14 companies to pilot their cutting-edge technology during the Australian summer of tennis and across other areas of Tennis Australia’s business. The most recent intake featured a range of innovative tech companies from across the globe including PAM, Raven, DVOX, Circular, Straffr, Trickshot and Stringr. Early-stage tech companies have until 19 November to apply.

Australian sports nutrition company BODYSCIENCE® has announced the launch of a range of energy and protein water drinks for post-workout boost, a pre workout alternative, or a convenient on-the-go energy option. 

https://www.bodyscience.com.au/collections/bsc-drinks

Australian-based Aircast has developed a next-generation technology that provides both sports fans and broadcast professionals with real-time access to multiviewer video, audio, and data feeds via mobile devices and IPTV at sub-second latency – less than 300ms end-to-end. During the 2023 high-profile women’s world soccer tournament, Aircast recently leveraged Haivision technology for live commentary and monitoring.

Centr, a health and wellness ecosystem founded by Chris Hemsworth, announced an all-new partnership with HYROX, the World Series of Fitness Racing, as its new Official Equipment Provider for all races. The partnership marks Centr’s initial entry into the competitive sports space.

In collaboration, Playbk Sports and Gold Coast SUNS are pioneering SUNS Fitness with the support of Health and Wellbeing Queensland / Queensland Government ActiveKIT (Knowledge | Innovation | Technology) with the goal to drive physical activity participation in Queensland.

Sonnant and Podder have joined forces to reshape the future of #audiodata. This partnership combines Sonnant’s pioneering content data with Podder’s cutting-edge demographic analytics, redefining content planning, targeting and the discovery of both exposed and unexposed audiences.

Umbro, the global football apparel, footwear and equipment retailer has teamed up with A.I. Football League, One Future Football. One Future Football is a virtual, A.I.-driven football league featuring 12 clubs based around the world with over 250 players. This exciting will see the Neo Swerve Pro ball used as Official Ball of One Future Football in all league games.

Australasia’s Best Sporting Team (ABST) was designed in partnership with GAIN LINE Analytics and Platinum Asset Management to bring an analytical approach to answering questions like whether great historic teams could have survived in today’s competitions, or about which football code is the best of all. In doing so it aims to start a new conversation about greatness. The aim is to reward success, whilst unearthing some hidden gems and most importantly, helping those in need.

LiveHeats, an Australian-based company specialising in live scoring, competition management and rankings platforms for mainstream adventure sports has partnered with the Sweden Ski Association. The Swedish powerhouse has joined our LiveHeats platform to provide sophisticated scoring, integrated national rankings, FIS results, and WSF World Snowboard points. These end-to-end event tools will enhance everyone's season, especially the athlete, fan and organiser experience.

Basketball Queensland (BQ) has officially launched a partnership with XP Esports for the 2024 Under 18 State Championships on the Gold Coast. 

XP Esports hosts live, online events, leagues, and major events across multiple esports titles in Queensland and Australia. XP Esports will deliver an esports Championship for Basketball Queensland members at the Under 18 State Championships between January 10 and 12 of January 2024. 

Catapult has announced a multi-year partnership with NASCAR, stepping in as the official supplier of race control systems. The collaboration will commence this season, with Catapult’s groundbreaking RaceWatch ID system taking center stage. 

The move promises to significantly enhance the efficiency of race control and competition officials across NASCAR’s top-tier racing series. RaceWatch ID is designed to empower NASCAR officials to make accurate and swift decisions, facilitating a seamless integration of multi-camera video, race radio, and telemetry data, all synchronized and housed in a single solution. 

ACL ruptures are increasingly common in field and court sports and occur 3-6 times more frequently in girls and women than boys and men. Alarmingly, Australia has the highest rates of ACL reconstruction in the world (which are also increasing at about 5% each year) and young females are most susceptible.

HITIQ is pleased to announce that it is conducting a capital raising of up to approximately $3.9 million through a placement to a sophisticated and professional investor. Funds from the raise will be deployed to accelerate the closing of near-term sales opportunities in North America and capitalise on the consumer interest in Australia for the HITIQ Smart Mouthguard.

SportsGrid, sports technology provider and company behind leading sports management platform revolutioniseSPORT, has been selected as a NSW State Finalist at the Telstra Best of Business Awards in two categories; Embracing Innovation and Outstanding Growth.

The Australian Open and US Open have announced a unique collaboration between AO Adventure and Champions of the Court, the two Grand Slam’s respective experiences on Roblox, a global immersive platform for communication and connection. ‘AO Adventure’ is an immersive digital experience that enables users to explore the world of the Australian Open while completing challenges and earning prizes.

In October, ‘AO Adventure’ launch a new mini-game called Tennis Ball Rain. ‘Tennis Ball Rain’ sees users engage in a race against the clock and each other, competing to collect tennis balls that rain from the sky.

In the heart of the cricket-loving subcontinent, a gaming revolution has begun. Behaviol Pty Ltd is thrilled to announce the successful launch of META11 Fantasy (beta), the world’s first free to play, AI-powered, cricket Fantasy game.

Greg Norman today launches the Putting Challenge inside the Play Today virtual 3D Sports World, through his own personal avatar welcoming global sports fans to a new and exciting way to experience sports.

Stewart and Heaton Clothing Company have partnered with Bodd to offer a touchless garment sizing solution that provides a seamless fitting experience for emergency services workers.

Queensland is to launch a $AUD5 million (£2.6 million/$3.1 million/€3 million) Olympics Challenge in a bid to showcase "quantum technologies" from the state during the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

With less than ten years on the clock, a Queensland university is bringing performance measurement technologies and esports to remote and regional communities, with hopes of unlocking potential Olympic and Paralympic talent. The Queensland University of Technology's "Sport Tech Van" houses a range of technologies, including ebikes, a golf simulator, reaction time equipment, broadcasting equipment and esports compute

ASTN General Manager Cam Vale was invited to attend the Queensland Government Sports Tech roundtable on Thursday 27th July in Brisbane. Led by the Treasurer and Minister for Trade, the Hon Mr Cameron Dick and the Minister for Tourism, Innovation and Sport, and Minister Assisting the Premier on Olympics and Paralympics Sport and Engagement, the Hon. Stirling Hinchliffe MP., the ASTN and select members from the sports technology community heard more from Queensland Government on the future opportunities for sports technology in Queensland.

A key program that has been announced is the Go Global program which opened on 31 July 2023.

For the first time since the Go Global Export Program was launched in 2020, sports tech sector applicants will receive special consideration.

Information about this program and Roundtable is included in the Queensland Government’s media statement released on Friday, 28 July 2023: Queensland’s sportstech economy driving golden investment opportunities - Ministerial Media Statements. The contact person for the Go Global Export Program is Sean Bohannon, Manager, Health, Innovation and Technology at Trade and Investment Queensland – sean.bohannon@tiq.qld.gov.au. Details about the Go Global Program Round 5 can be found here: Go Global Export Program. Applications close on 11 September 2023.