Sportstech & Member News

Kirsty Richardson and the GravityFit team have won Queensland’s Startup World Cup regional final. GravityFit will now head to Silicon Valley to compete for $US 1 million in investment. GravityFit’s science-backed tools and apparel are transforming human performance by strengthening deep muscle systems and improving posture and movement.

Originally founded as a software solution for personal trainers, Hapana pivoted to bricks-and-mortar fitness studios in 2017 and took on a more global outlook, but its hard-earned victories in the US were unravelled by COVID-19 and the ensuing gym closures. This could have been a death knell for the Sydney-based tech startup if not for the eagerness of burgeoning Australian fitness brands to embrace innovation. In a post-COVID period the company has gone from strength to strength. Hapana has grown rapidly since raising $AUD 17 million last year, and now has its sights set on an AI-first re-platforming to add further value to the fitness sector.

The Institute for Sports Technology Standards (ISTS) has been established to improve quality assessment and decision-making in sportstech. ISTS will conduct three main streams of activity. Firstly, spearhead the development of public, accredited test standards for the quality assessment of sports technology. Secondly, develop and conduct tech quality assessment programs for federations, governing bodies and leagues. And thirdly, conduct sports tech quality assessment and R&D testing, according to test standards.

The federal government is backing three medtech incubators with nearly $AUD 100 million in grant funding, in the hopes of helping Australia’s next great healthcare innovators bring their products to market. Brandon BioCatalyst, Biointelect, and ANDHealth have each secured funding for new incubator programs, supporting startups as they commercialise proof-of-concept projects. The funding comes as part of the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) and its $AUD 450 million Medical Research Commercialisation Initiative.

Optus has accepted an offer from Nine Entertainment Co and Stan to obtain the rights to Optus Sport football content, including the Premier League, Emirates FA Cup and more. From 1 August 2025 Optus Sport will close, and the Premier League, Emirates FA Cup, J.League and National Women’s Soccer League will move to Stan Sport. This means that the Premier League and UEFA Champions League will now be reunited, in one place, Stan.

Adobe and the Premier League announced a multi-year partnership to bring new AI-powered personalised digital experiences to fans around the world and provide new opportunities for fans to express their creativity. Adobe's creativity, marketing and AI technology is central to the Premier League’s digital transformation and is unlocking new ways for fans to create and share Premier League content, engage with their Fantasy Premier League teams and enjoy more personalised digital experiences. Adobe Express and Firefly generative AI, will give fans new ways to create and share Premier League content and enhance their digital and Fantasy Premier League experience.

The Female Founders Co-Investment Fund provides grants that are pre-approved and are subject to an investment raise by women-founded and led innovation driven enterprises that are approaching new investors as part of their early-stage capital raise. The Fund provides grants from $AUD 50,000 to $AUD 200,000 (excluding GST) matched at a 1:3 ratio for a funding round led by an eligible investment entity. To be eligible businesses must be headquartered in Queensland and be majority female owned (51%+).

An AI-powered stats platform called Superstat has been launched in Melbourne with AFL as the beta market. The platform creates statistics and highlights packages and is ready to launch for the 2026 AFL season. Superstat's beta user waitlist in now open, giving the first 100 players registered a full season of stats.

The GLP-1 boom is still sending ripples and waves throughout the fitness industry they also have fitness professionals asking users to only take them once well-informed.  Evolt 360, the brand’s body composition scanner which measures lean muscle mass and fat via bioimpedance technology, is an ideal tool for anyone looking to use GLP-1 medications safely and effectively. By tracking skeletal muscle mass, fat composition and body fat distribution, and creating individual macronutrient profiles to better understand proper protein, carb and fat intake, the device is the guide all GLP-1 users need right now.

Hudl launch an enhanced Statsbomb analysis platform, integrating Wyscout’s video library with Statsbomb’s industry-leading data and analytics. Recruitment workflows have previously been disjointed and fragmented, forcing users to switch between platforms and solutions to collect all the information they need to make informed decisions. Now, in the new platform, they can perform talent identification, video scouting, clip generation and playlist creation all in one unified solution that will save analysts and scouts hours every single week.

International Rugby League is further professionalising its technical education by providing IRL members with a comprehensive online education management system. IRL has partnered with leading education solutions provider etrainu to maximise the way coach and match officials learn. All IRL technical courses and the progress of practitioners through each program will be logged on a customised IRL education portal. 

Hockey NSW has announced a new 3-year agreement with Veo Technologies to become its Official Video and Analysis Partner. The partnership gives Hockey NSW access to AI-powered Veo Cam 3 5G units and video analysis software. Hockey NSW will be using the cameras to aid in officials development as well as athlete development initially. Veo’s solution includes the AI-powered Veo Cam 3 5G, which automatically tracks the ball and players during matches, allowing coaches and athletes to record games, analyse performance, and create highlight videos effortlessly, all without the need for a camera operator.

SailGP has officially opened SailGP Technologies, its new innovation, design and engineering centre in Southampton, UK. The site, which will serve as the technical base for the global championship, currently employs over 100 designers, engineers, boat builders and specialists across areas including composites, hydraulics and aerodynamics. The global racing league says the $US 10m facility has been established to support the ongoing development and maintenance of the league’s F50 catamarans and accelerate the construction of additional boats.

Sportradar has launched Bettor Sense, a personalized, proactive, and data-driven approach to user protection. BETesporte will be the first operator to implement the solution, reinforcing its commitment to safer and more responsible practices in Brazil’s newly regulated betting market. Bettor Sense is an AI-powered solution that detects early signs of gambling-related risk and enables personalized interventions to protect end users. Developed with proprietary technology and grounded in behavioral research, Bettor Sense allows operators to act quickly and efficiently, promoting responsible gambling and strengthening brand reputation. 

SURJ Sports Investment has announced its investment in the Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO) as part of the organisation’s Series C funding round, alongside founding investor Sir Michael Moritz, Cordillera Investment Partners and Verance Capital. The funding will support the PTO’s continued international growth at both elite and mass participation levels, plus innovation in race formats and long-term athlete and fan engagement. SURJ is understood to have invested around $US 20 million to make its first move into triathlon.

Leading GPS racing technology provider tripleSdata has announced a partnership with TAB NZ and Entain to roll out next-gen SMART 4G GPS technology across 27 racecourses (90% of New Zealand's race courses). The partnership will reshape data commercialisation, powering real-time tracking, timing, and data for clubs, syndicates, operators and punters.

Helping more Australians develop their physical literacy – the movement skills, confidence and motivation required to be active for life - is at the heart of a new national action plan launched by the Australian Sports Commission. Focusing on children from preschool to high school, the Physical Literacy Coalition Action Plan 2025-2027 calls for a coordinated approach to ensure physical literacy is a core component of every child’s development. The two-year plan includes engaging with education policy makers, supporting schools to implement the Physical Literacy Guide for Schools, developing an early primary school physical literacy program, and incorporating the Australian Physical Literacy Framework into schools, sporting organisations and communities.

Melbourne healthtech startup Everlab has raised $AUD 15 million in a seed funding round led by global growth equity firm Left Lane Capital. The funding will be used to expand its AI-driven preventive health platform and grow its clinical network across Australia and beyond. Everlab is a digital health platform focused on proactive and personalised prevention. It works on a membership system where members receive year-round access to a suite of diagnostic tests. These include whole-body MRIs, blood testing, DEXA scans, VO2 max, ECG, glucose monitoring, CT coronary angiograms, and food journal analysis. 

Two ASTN members, GravityFit and Cool Beans Underwear, have been selected as finalists in the Startup World Cup in Queensland. The program and event, to be held on 29 July, is supported by the City of Moreton Bay, Advance Queensland, University of Sunshine Coast, Creative HQ and Pegasus Tech Ventures. GravityFit is a solution that activates the deep muscle system to improve power, agility, balance, and better all round stability and posture, and is used in golf and fitness. Cool Beans Underwear is an innovative, cooling underwear product designed to boost sperm health and improve the likelihood of conception. 

MyVenue continues to got from strength-to-strength in the USA, deploying another 560 points of sale at Lumen Field for the Seattle Seahawks, as the team’s official concessions POS technology provider. Selected for its unmatched performance, proven reliability, and venue-wide scalability, Lumen Field is also utilizing MyVenue’s native in-seat ordering solution and a unique two-way integration with the frictionless Just Walk Out technology.

Flutter Entertainment, one of the world’s leading online sports betting and iGaming operator has announced the extension of its long-term strategic partnership with Boyd Gaming Corporation to 2038 and the buyout of Boyd’s 5% stake in FanDuel Group. Under the terms of the Agreement, Flutter will pay Boyd approximately $US 1.755 billion to acquire Boyd’s 5% stake in FanDuel at an implied valuation of $US 31 billion. FanDuel is the clear number one in the market with a 43% market share in sports betting and 27% in iGaming.

CME, a sports lighting and sustainable energy specialist, has been selected as a finalist for the 2025 South Australian Premier's Business and Export Awards. Established in 1985, CME has delivered lighting solutions to more than 400 sports fields, 40MW+ of renewable energy and over $AUD 100m in work.

The British & Irish Lions have teamed up with sustainability experts Everclime to help offset the carbon impact of the Qatar Airways British & Irish Lions Tour to Australia 2025. The British & Irish Lions and Lions Rugby Travel have made history by fully offsetting all fan travel emissions, thanks to contributions from 6,500 supporters. Fans can join the Match Day Impact Card campaign, with Everclime. Everclime have launched a platform where fans can collect ‘Impact Cards’ at each of the nine fixtures. Doing so contributes to the Lions trusted charities that are changing lives on and off the pitch.

Leading sports streaming company, DAZN, has launched a sports tech Global Capability Centre (GCC) in Hyderabad, India. The GCC, which will be a base for the company’s global sports tech operations, will have 3,000 employees by the end of 2026. The centre will drive the development of next-generation sports technologies by scaling engineering and product innovation.

Leading sportstech investment advisory firm Drake Star has reported $US 52 billion in sportstech deals in first half of 2025. The first half was particularly active with consolidation and private financing across youth sports and digital media segments. M&A activity is anticipated to continue being strong as both strategics and private equity-backed platforms are very active in the market. 

USA Pickleball, the national governing body for pickleball in the United States, has teamed up with leading education provider etrainu to launch a centralized, federated training platform designed to upskill ambassadors and other membership stakeholders sport. The first phase will target training and education for over 2,000 ambassadors and other membership stakeholders. With etrainu’s learning management system (LMS) and integration with the Sport:80 membership platform, USA Pickleball will now deliver and track training across areas including employee onboarding, volunteer training, and referee / official certification. 

Sciana has partnered with NeuroFlux to provide AI-powered concussion screening to communities across Australia. Sciana's platform is equipping GPs, pharmacies, and allied health providers with a powerful tool for early, objective screening. NeuroFlex uses virtual reality to test oculomotor reflexes, cognitive and vestibular reaction times.

Sports streaming platform FrogBox has announced a new partnership with Gray-Nicolls, an iconic name in world cricket. Now, through FrogBox’s livestreaming platform, Gray-Nicolls is connecting more directly with the millions who play and follow grassroots cricket each week. This collaboration combines heritage and innovation, equipping clubs with the tools to stream matches, and share their stories with passionate communities.

The 2025 Sports Tech Startup and Investor Day will give founders the opportunity to pitch their company via a short two-and-a-half-minute video as part of the Sportstech World Series in late October in Melbourne. Australia Sports Tech Startup and Investor Day (on 30th October) is designed to give innovative grassroots businesses an opportunity to showcase their product to the broader sports tech industry. Submissions close 3pm Friday 24th October.

3D body scanning company 3D Measure Me has announced that they are a finalist in the 2025 AUSactive National Awards – People’s Choice Small Business of the Year. 3D Measure me is revolutionising body measurements using smart phone-based 3D scanning, enabling accurate, touch free, private progress tracking. The business is developing partnerships across the health and fitness industry, empowering individuals and professionals to drive better health outcomes. 

DMC Sport has announced that it signed on to continue working with England Golf to support two fantastic grassroots programs – Girls Golf Rocks and Get into Golf Rookies. From innovative product design and manufacture to seamless delivery to participants, DMC Sport is helping grow participation in golf across the UK by making golf fun, accessible, and inclusive for young players.

Veloce Media Group has acquired a majority stake in Quadrant, the digital media and apparel business founded by Formula 1 driver Lando Norris in 2020. As part of the deal, Norris has become a shareholder in Veloce while retaining more than 20% of Quadrant and continuing to license his name and brand to the company. Quadrant has built a following of over 6.9 million across digital platforms. The brand has expanded its presence from gaming and esports into merchandise, digital content, and live experiences.

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.

Australian wagering technology company, BetMakers Technology, has raised $AUD 13.7 million in an oversubscribed retail share purchase plan as well as an institutional placement. The money raised will be used to fund strategic acquisitions, repay debt, and support its growing presence in the US racing and wagering market.

Advance Queensland is a support partner with Follow Me AI (FOME.ai) and The University of Queensland to undertake a project to develop an AI-powered system for Paralympic classification. The Industry Research Projects program will provide more than $AUD 1.5 million in funding, and UQ’s Queensland Centre for Olympic and Paralympic Studies will also contribute $ADU 210,000 to this innovative project which has the potential to revolutionise Para sport by ensuring fair and objective classification for athletes around the world.

HITIQ, a pioneer in concussion management, has announced an exclusive global agreement with Shock Doctor, the world’s leading mouthguard innovator. This landmark agreement marks Shock Doctor’s two-year effort to design a mouthguard that will integrate HITIQ’s PROTEQT technology. The result is a fully developed, market-ready solution that merges HITIQ’s smart sensor technology with Shock Doctor’s unmatched global production partner capabilities.

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.

Followers of the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2025 are witnessing a technological breakthrough with the first-ever FIBA event with full activation of GeniusIQ (from Genius Sports) – an AI platform showcasing how data and automation will shape the future of basketball.  GeniusIQ utilizes the Dragon system, which is a fully automated optical tracking solution. The cutting-edge setup of 12 strategically placed iPhones captures every movement on the main court in Lausanne. This AI-driven system enables real-time in-game optical tracking, powering augmented broadcasts with live data overlays such as player speed, shot charts, and momentum swings.

Just over a week after the European Commission authorised Liberty Media’s acquisition of Dorna Sports (commercial rights holder of the MotoGP), the American company has finalised the purchase of 84% of the Spanish firm, following a payment of €4.3billion. The announcement concludes one of the biggest takeovers in recent times in the sports entertainment industry. With this acquisition, Liberty Media - which bought the rights to Formula 1 in 2017 for $8bn - will now also control the second-most followed motorsport championship worldwide.

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.

The Premier League and Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday announced a five-year strategic partnership to transform how 1.8 billion fans in 189 countries engage with the world’s most-watched football league. At the heart of the partnership are the Premier League’s new fan-facing digital platforms, which leverage Microsoft’s cloud and AI technologies to usher in a new era of intelligent and intuitive fan experiences. From today, fans around the world can learn more about the Premier League clubs, players and matches of their choice through a new digital Premier League Companion powered by Copilot.

Basketball Victoria (BV) has launched Australia's first comprehensive basketball facilities guide, a pioneering resource designed to address the state's critical court shortage whilst supporting local governments and sporting associations in infrastructure planning and development. The sport's rapid growth however has placed enormous pressure on existing infrastructure, threatening participation and equal access to this great game across communities. 

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.

Tennessee Titans have engaged smart navigation platform on a 2 year pilot as it manages fan flows and occasional traffic reroutes associated with the construction of its new $US 2.2 billion stadium next to its current Nissan Stadium. As the new Nissan Stadium continues to progress through construction phases, fans’ capability to get around and into events will shift. That created a need to find a solution that can evolve with the construction. PAM’s solution offers fans a web-based platform that shows an interactive map with real-time adjustments for the directions. PAM also earned a spot in the most recent class of 10 startups in this year’s Comcast NBCUniversal SportsTech program.

Sports sustainability platform Everclime has announced that it has welcomed John Gleasure, Founder of DAZN and Peform 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.