ASTN Member News

PlayHQ, Australia’s leading sports registration platform, and Oho, Australia’s first dedicated credential verification system, have announced an exclusive strategic partnership set to significantly enhance child safety through the creation of PlaySafe, powered by Oho. Basketball Victoria is leading the way as the first sport to integrate this Australia-first innovation. The partnership between PlayHQ and Oho is set to transform child safeguarding by introducing a technology-enabled solution that tackles the longstanding administrative burdens and compliance gaps faced by grassroots sports organisations.

Helping Australian sport benefit from artificial intelligence (AI) is the aim of a new world-first research partnership between the CSIRO and the Australian Sports Commission (ASC). The three-year agreement will initially focus on two research areas, developing an AI for Australian sports roadmap and a responsible AI position statement. 

Life Time Michigan has become the first swim club in the northern hemisphere to trial Olly Timing – the most significant development in swimming competition timing since touchpads in the 1970s. Olly Timing replaces deck timers and hardware with high speed video. Accuracy is ensured and controversial results can be adjudicated from video review. 2 cameras and a laptop were temporarily installed at their pool. The trials were operated remotely from Melbourne, Australia – 10,000 miles distant from Michigan – a world first.

Cérge’s digital accessibility platform helps people with disability confidently navigate community spaces through tools such as AI Wayfinding, 360° Virtual Tours, sensory guides and pre-visit communication. Cérge’s tools are already being used by councils, tourism operators, stadiums and government bodies across Australia and overseas. Queensland’s commitment to inclusive innovation has been recognised on the world stage, with the Sunshine Coast born company named Global Champion in the Inclusion & Empowerment category at the prestigious United Nations–backed World Summit Awards.

Game-day, competition and member management platform, PlayHQ Sports, has hit a major milestone - reaching over 1 million downloads across the PlayHQ apps by players, parents, coaches and volunteers. PlayHQ provides an all-in-one platform for real-time game-day updates, fixtures, ladders and results as well as season highlights, milestones and player stats.

iReel, a pioneer in Generative AI innovation for the sports industry, has partnered with Iterpro, the leading sports intelligence solution, to introduce the first fully integrated Generative AI agent within a sports intelligence platform. iReel’s sports-specific Generative AI capabilities will be embedded into Iterpro’s platform, enabling clubs and federations to receive contextual, real-time insights derived from their own internal data. Unlike generic AI tools, this solution is custom-built for the unique needs of each organisation, enhancing operational efficiency and supporting high-value decision-making.

Hockey Australia, together with all Member Associations, has launched Rely as its national integrity management platform in alignment with the National Integrity Framework. This marks a significant step in the sport’s commitment to providing safe, fair and inclusive environments for everyone involved in Hockey. Members of the Hockey community across Australia can raise integrity concerns more easily and consistently across all clubs. Powered by Rely and integrated with Your Call, a human-centred external hotline, the system provides clear, confidential pathways to report issues at every level of the sport.

Sports sustainability platform Everclime has announced that it has welcomed John Gleasure, Founder of DAZN and Perform Group as Chairman and also investor. John will help Everclime expand its partnerships across brands, rights holders, and commercial partners, as the business continues to support organisations connect impact and sustainability to commercial opportunities.

For the first time in AFL history, Champion Data and the AFL are quantifying the 'speed of ball' movement, allowing clubs, players, and the broader industry to analyse not just how the ball is moved, but how fast or slow decisions directly correlate with outcomes on the field. It’s an advanced diagnostic tool built to enhance strategic planning, match reviews, player development, and predictive modelling.

Leading fitness and equipment accessory provider PTP has announced a partnership with NRL's Manly Sea Eagles to support players in performance and recovery. PTP provides innovative total resistance system to powertubes, resistance bands, yoga mats and foam rollers for both the elite and consumer sports markets.

Clubland last week was announced the winner in the technology category at the 2025 Australian Sport, Recreation and Play Innovation Awards at the 2025 National Sports Convention in Melbourne. Clubland build digital clubhouses for sports clubs. The clubhouses bring together upcoming events, fixtures, results, player cards, news, leaderboards, honour boards and an online shop to make club websites the central communication platform.

EnageRM and Agilitek have announceda strategic collaboration that brings together EngageRM’s leading CRM platform (trusted by major players like the LA Clippers, CoOp Live, the MCG, the AFL, and Collingwood Football Club), with Agilitek’s deep expertise in data acquisition, modeling, segmentation, and activation (serving clients such as the Cleveland Cavaliers, Live Nation, Queensland Rugby League, and Brooklyn Nets). EngageRM and Agilitek will deliver solutions that help sports rights holders to identify and understand fans, achieve best-in-class single view of the customer and unlock actionable insights to enhance fan and stakeholder experiences.

Digital twin startup TwinLabs has won The Fitness Technology Summit startup sportlight competition in London. TwinLabs, with their digital twin solution, Gym Twin, was voted the best startup at the Summit by the attendees. Gym Twin provides a real-time, 3D view of equipment and space utilisation, giving gym and fitness owners actionable insights to improve operations and boost member satisfaction.

Griffith University has joined with Paddle Australia in a four-year partnership to elevate the paddle sports ecosystem in the lead up to the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games and beyond. The partnership will focus on supporting, inspiring and developing all paddlers, and increasing expertise in areas such as health, wellbeing, performance, legacy, sustainability, environment and ecotourism.

In partnership with Telstra, AFL - Australian Football League and Field Of Vision, Champion Data have played a lead role in bringing Telstra Touch and Track to life. This is an Australian-first experience that launched at Marvel Stadium over the weekend for fans who are blind or have low vision. This innovation uses Champion Data's real-time tracking system, with centimetre-level accuracy, to map the ball’s live movement across the field. That data is fed directly into a device that converts the play into tactile motion, allowing fans to feel the game in near real-time.

The Premier League’s partnership with ECAL truly shines with the new 2025/26 season fixture release, which showcases advanced features like native language translations AI for true ‘glocalisation’ of their essential match schedule.  The Premier League understands that authentic fan engagement transcends geographical borders and language barriers. This is why they utilise ECAL’s advanced capabilities to deliver localised fixture information in the native tongue of their global audience. 248 countries, 49 languages, intelligently translated by AI.

Hydration has long been considered a simple, self-regulated process: drink when you’re thirsty. But according to healthtech startup WearOptimo, this conventional wisdom misses a serious, often undetected health issue—chronic mild dehydration. The solution? A pain-free, AI-powered wearable sensor that monitors hydration with clinical accuracy and real-time feedback. WearOptimo’s sensor uses microelectrodes to reach just a few microns into the viable epidermis—the skin layer most sensitive to changes in hydration. Citing findings from Nature Reviews Nephrology, WearOptimo CEO Prof Mark Kendall warns that long-term mild dehydration can reduce life expectancy by four years and increase the risk of dementia by 48%.

The Australian Sports Technologies Network (ASTN) has announced that it is a successful recipient of an Innovative Society Fund grant from Meshpoints to help continue the acceleration of the growth of WA’s sportstech innovation ecosystem. Meshpoints is an initiative of Spacecubed Foundation, supported by Lotterywest. The Catalyst Create grant will enable ASTN to continue delivering a range of programs and events to grow and fast-track early-stage and growth-stage sportstech startups. In addition, ASTN will activate and connect the WA sports innovation community through a series of networking events and educate the sports market on trending sports innovation themes.

Olly Timing has been short-listed as a Finalist in the Technology category in the 2025 Australian Sport, Recreation and Play Innovation Awards. The purpose of these Industry Innovation Awards is to recognise individuals, not-for-profits, commercial, play, recreation and sport sectors on their innovations to get more people active in the community.

Teamworks, the Operating System for Sports™ powering more than 6,500 elite sports teams globally, announced it has secured $US 235 million in an oversubscribed Series F financing led by returning investor Dragoneer Investment Group. This latest round, which closed at a pre-money valuation exceeding $US 1.0 billion, will fuel the company’s mission to advance AI-powered solutions across professional, collegiate, and Olympic sports programs, cementing Teamworks’ position as a leading sports technology company globally.

With a focus on fostering meaningful inclusion in sport and active recreation, Disability Sport & Recreation (DSR) has engaged etrainu to create an online learning and development hub. With these resources, DSR will create and deliver quality, relevant training through Inspire Group's learning and development content creation expertise, empowering people with disabilities to explore participation opportunities. The hub will be available for anyone in the disability sector, including people with disability themselves, carers, support workers/support persons, and managers or employers in sport, recreation, or disability organisations.

Invictus Sport has been selected as one of the pioneering platforms in the IOC Olympism365 Tech Explorers Program — an initiative that brings together innovators using sport and technology to build a more inclusive, empowered, and sustainable future. At the recent Olympism365 Summit, over 300 leaders from across the globe united with one mission: to transform communities through the power of sport.

A new partnership has been established between the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) and the National Measurement Institute (NMI), Australia’s national authority on measurement, to develop a customised online education resource aimed at high performance sport. This initiative will help to ensure the high performance sport system remains at the top of its game when it comes to best practice in measurement methods.

James Demetriou, the founding chair of the Australian Sports Technologies Network (ASTN) has been appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM), in the King’s Birthday Honours, for his service to sport, to education, and to business. Spanning 40 years, Demetriou has played a major role in Australian sport and is a respected leader in sports business, sports governance and sports technology. As the co-founder of ASTN, Demetriou has contributed significantly to the development of Australia being recognised as one of the top six sportstech clusters globally over the past decade.

Australia’s community sports sector is undergoing a dramatic transformation, driven by the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), digital platforms, and sports technology. Leading this shift is the AI, Digital & Sports Tech stream at the National Sports & Physical Activity Convention (NSC) 2025, taking place in Melbourne on June 25–26. This dedicated stream will highlight how new technologies ranging from AI-driven data analytics to mobile apps and immersive virtual experiences are transforming local sport. Organisations including ASTN Members TidyHQ, ClubDucks, CoachMate, etrainu and Clubland Australia will be exhibiting and sharing their industry insights at the Convention.

Teamworks, the Operating System for Sports™ powering more than 6,500 elite sports organizations globally, announced the acquisition of Telemetry Sports. Since 2015, Telemetry has pioneered computer vision, player tracking analytics, and video delivery technology to transform how elite football (gridion) teams evaluate player performance, build winning rosters, and enhance game-day decision-making. Telemetry Sports is a trusted partner in sports technology and analytics, currently used by 80% of NFL teams and 20% of Power 4 football programs to support recruiting, scouting, coaching, and game planning.

The race to close the research gap in women’s sport has taken a significant step with leading Australian researchers and sport scientists commencing a historic two-year project. Experts believe the project will lead to female athlete research being at the forefront of sport science research. It comes just weeks after the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) formed a historic partnership with the United States, the United Kingdom and New Zealand to advance female health and performance worldwide. At present just six per cent of sport science and sports medicine research is female-specific. This collaborative and co-funded initiative involves the Australian Institute Of Sport, Edith Cowan University, and University of Technology Sydney

Kronos is supporting Abu Dhabi Local Organising Committee for the 2026 Open Masters Games by delivering a wide range of technology systems and solutions, including the event and registration platform. The solutions has officially gone live, opening the doors of the Games to participants from around the world.

The Fourth Edition of ASTN’s annual report provides a comprehensive census of Australia’s sports innovation sector. Driven by consistent gains in both revenue and employment, Australia’s sportstech sector continues to prosper. In FY2025, the sector sustained its momentum with 10% growth, matching the pace of FY2024. Revenue climbed to $AUD 5.65 billion, while total employment reached 17,928 – highlighting an increasingly resilient and stable sector.

Layercake has announced that its 'Streamcake' media orchestration and automation platform has won the Live Event Streaming award at the prestigious Asia-Pacific Broadcasting+ Awards 2025. Streamcake automates complex broadcasting workflows while delivering broadcast-quality live streaming across multiple platforms simultaneously. Our platform reduces operational complexity and ensures reliable, low-latency streaming for live events of any scale.

Three dynamic Gold Coast companies have been selected to participate in the inaugural Gold Coast Sportstech Open Innovation Challenge with Southport Sharks. This six-week program gives startups a rare chance to embed in a live sporting environment, validate their solutions, and contribute to the future of sport in Queensland. The companies selected include, Pursuit Academies a digital athlete development platform enhancing player care, injury prevention, and long-term performance, Gatho.app an interactive virtual fan zones and hybrid event tech, making sport more accessible and connected and Imagine Realities, an augmented reality and 3D fan experiences that turn physical spaces into immersive stories.

Fempro Armour, the female-specific protective guard, has been approved by the AFL for use in the AFL & AFL Women’s league. Whilst the AFL does not offers formal endorsements, the our product meets the safety requirements for play at the highest level of women’s football in Australia.

As Australia’s outdoor visitor attractions cope with the seemingly growing unpredictability of extreme weather, operators are increasingly turning to data to adapt and respond in real time. Traditionally, weather was treated as a background variable in tourism forecasting. Today, it is becoming a frontline factor directly shaping visitor behaviour, revenue models, and operational planning. Data from Nola Technologies underscores this, with a nationwide analysis of venue traffic that it undertook in April 2025 revealing stark differences tied to localised weather conditions. The analysis identified outdoor venues saw a 40 to 60% decline in entries on rainy days and indoor attractions experienced a 10 to 16% increase in visitor traffic, often without warning.

Former ASTN Chair and Lifetime Member James Demetriou has won a Sport Award at the 2025 Cyprus Diaspora Forum for his contribution to sports innovation. The event featured 14 categories, including The Arts, music, finance, community, conflict and resolution, and sport. The event saw around 350 attendees from various corners of the globe, with a notable presence from the Australian continent.

PMY Group has been announced as the Global Technology Partner for the inaugural World Technology Games - a groundbreaking event launching next year. The celebration of science, technology and human ingenuity will showcase the brightest minds and talent through thrilling competitions such as drone racing, autonomous driving, and much more. As Global Technology Partner, PMY will deliver the event’s technology, content, and data solutions.

Tradable Bits has signed a league-wide deal to build fandom and supercharge sponsorship efforts with Northern Super League (NSL), the new Canadian professional women's soccer league launched this past month. Tradable Bits will provide data acquisition, analysis, and activation solutions at the league and team levels. The NSL joins Tradable Bits' rapidly expanding roster of league-wide clients that includes Rugby Canada, Australian Football League, Northern Basketball League, Netball Australia, Netball New Zealand, and East Asia Super League.

EngageRM, a leading provider of business and marketing automation, CRM, and data analytics solutions, has announced its acquisition of Power’d Digital, a comprehensive first-party channel platform. The integration of Power’d’s first-party channel capabilities will empower EngageRM’s platform to deliver even more personalized and data-driven fan interactions.

Champion Data and LIV Golf have won the 'Best Use of Fan Engagement Tech by a Sports Organisation' category at prestigious STA Awards. The judges were impressed by the platform’s clean execution and clever tailoring, which brought fans closer to the action without overloading the experience. Others nominated for the category included BatFast and ECB, Infosys and Roland Garros, National Basketball Association (NBA) x Monterosa, and Supertri and The British & Irish Lions.

Queensland-based smart sports locker concept SportsBox has announced that it going global. The concept that makes sports equipment more accessible to communities around the world is expanding into 10 countries through a combination of pilots, partnerships and distributors. The expansion includes the USA, UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Singapore, Malaysia, Portugal, Spain and Brazil. With support from the Queensland's Department of of Sport, Racing, Olympic & Paralympic Games (via the ActiveKIT Program) SportsBox is currently rolling out 25 lockers across Queensland. 

iReel has announced a partnership with Sportlogiq to advance performance intelligence. This collaboration brings together Sportlogiq’s industry-leading tracking data and performance insights with iReel’s cutting-edge Generative AI platform. The partnership enables teams, leagues, and media organisations to uncover deeper layers of analysis and redefine how sport is understood, presented, and optimised. Sportlogiq, is a global leader in AI-powered hockey analytics and a pioneer in computer vision across elite sport.