Sportstech & Member News

PlayHQ, a global leader in competition management platforms, and Rugby Canada have announced a strategic partnership set to modernize registration infrastructure and unlock player development insights across Canadian rugby. The partnership provides Rugby Canada and provincial organizations an integrated platform that will consolidate provincial operations into one unified view, giving administrators the tools to manage registrations, compliance, competitions, and communications from a single interface.

SportIQ, a company that develops smart basketballs and in-app shooting coaching technology, has raised a total of $US 6.2 million in a Series A funding. The company develops connected sports balls that combine sensors, analytics, and AI to support performance tracking. Its sensor system and analytics app, which are covered by multiple patents, are used in the Spalding TF DNA basketball. The system uses a sensor embedded in the ball’s valve to track shooting performance, collecting data such as shooting position, power, angle, and technique. 

Melbourne-based AI sports tracking platform Superstat has officially been announced as one of 19 startups in the Startmate Accelerator program (Summer 2026). Startmate has invested $AUD 2.28 million in the cohort, giving each startup $120,000 for a 7% stake. Superstat delivers automated stats and actionable insights, not just numbers, helping teams strengthen what works, fix what doesn’t and giving clubs an unfair, game winning advantage.

It has been announced that a “Standard for a Common Exchange Format for Match-Data in Football (Soccer)” will be developed through the IEEE Standards Association. This standard establishes a uniform and standardized format for providing digital data arising from football (soccer) matches. The standard includes data from the following sources: match sheet data, video data, event data, tracking data, match meta data, and player physical data. Usage of this data includes performance analysis, fan engagement, medical analysis, wagering, and coaching. The Working Group will be led by sports data and standards experts including Jesse Davis, Joris Bekkers and Sam Robertson.

The Groundbreakers Challenge is a global open‑innovation call designed to connect the most promising sport‑tech startups with real industry challenges from leading sports organizations. In this edition, through GSIC’s proven methodology and PEAK Conference’s world‑class stage, selected startups gain the opportunity to pitch live in Las Vegas, engage directly with decision‑makers, and unlock potential pilot collaborations that can accelerate their impact worldwide. Deployable products and solutions across fan engagement, media tech and sponsorship, venue management and athlete performance. Applications close 15 March.

Basketball Australia has unveiled its revolutionary Coach Development Framework this week, establishing flexible coaching pathways designed to support basketball mentors nationwide from grassroots to elite levels. The Framework blends online modules, face-to-face sessions, practical experience, and self-directed learning, providing coaching education to suit any location or schedule. Basketball Australia has partnered with etrainu and their online education platform as well as Coach Logic where coaches receive feedback and actionable advice on their development.

The Juventus Football Club has launched an open innovation program called Juventus Forward. The initiative represents the heart of Juventus’ open innovation, a strategic bridge between the club, start-ups, partners, talents and a community working on sport, technology and applied innovation. As part of the program CDP Venture Capital will relocate its Accelerator dedicated to the Sportech and Wellness vertical from Rome to Turin, making the Allianz Stadium a new national hub for sports start-ups and business acceleration. Whilst The Players Fund will support Juventus as a strategic partner of the Innovation team, bringing an international perspective, benchmarks and expertise through global scouting activities.

The Australian Sports Technologies Network (ASTN), announced new agreements with the Queensland Government’s Department of Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation (DETSI) and the Department of Sport, Racing and Olympic and Paralympic Games (DSROPG), to deliver a program of work aimed at strengthening Queensland’s sportstech and sports innovation ecosystem. The initiative aligns with Queensland’s broader innovation, economic development and legacy objectives as the State continues to build momentum toward the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and reinforces Queensland’s position as a nationally and internationally relevant hub for sports innovation.

Sports intelligence leader Twenty First Group (TFG), a company revolutionising sports through AI-powered analytics and data expertise will open their Asia-Pacific headquarters in Melbourne, driving growth in one of the world’s most exciting sports ecosystems. Known for elevating performances at the The Ryder Cup, Major League Soccer (MLS), and clubs like Arsenal Football Club and AC Milan, TFG sees Victoria’s unique blend of sports passion and top technology talent as the perfect foundation for success.

As the Official Games Systems and Results Supplier, Kronos has delivered a digital ecosystem to the Local Organising Committee of the Open Masters Games (Abu Dhabi), enhancing the overall digitalisation of the Games experience. From registration and accreditation to timing, scoring, and secure results dissemination, the Kronos systems have supported athletes, officials, and other stakeholders through the Games.

The NFL and StatusPRO, a sports entertainment and technology company that combines AI and performance data with emerging technology to create experiential content, has announced an expansion of their partnership, granting StatusPRO new rights that enable the company to build a device-agnostic training product. The newly secured rights align with StatusPRO’s vision of building a unified platform spanning training and gaming. Powered by AI and telemetry data from sports leagues, the platform delivers simulated content that enables fans, athletes and coaches to play, watch and learn the game, deepening engagement across the sports ecosystem.

Polytan has delivered Torquay’s new state-of-the-art hockey pitch at Banyul-Warri Fields, marking a major milestone for hockey on Victoria’s Surf Coast. The facility features Polytan’s elite Poligras Platinum World Cup synthetic hockey surface, made from 20% bio-based materials. This is the first dry, non-sand dressed hockey pitch in Victoria, and the first in Australia certified to the new FIH Innovation Category, delivering elite wet-field performance without the need for water.

Leading volunteer management platform, Rosterfy, recently delivered in its 10th year of a partnership with the Super Bowl. In this time Rosterfy’s has delivered end-to-end volunteer management technology has helped host cities and organising committees recruit, screen, train and schedule thousands of volunteers, creating seamless experiences for both organisers and volunteers alike. 

Video production company, Sideline Sport, has partnered with Basketball Victoria to officially launch their Remote Production Model at the Junior Country Championships over the weekend. Production was fully remote-controlled, over 100 games across four courts captured simultaneously, with live action captured and managed by operators located in Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane.

ASTN has announced two major international engagement opportunities in March and April 2026. These initiatives are designed to elevate Australian sportstech companies on the global stage, open new pathways into international markets, and strengthen Australia’s presence across the sports innovation ecosystem. ASTN and its delegation will be part of SPORTEL Singapore 24-25 March and PEAK Conference in Las Vegas 20-22 April. Exclusive opportunities, including exhibiting within the 'ASTN hub' at PEAK and priority access to participate in SPORTEL's Pitch Perfect competition, will be provided to delegates. 

FIFA has announced PlayerData as a FIFA Preferred Provider for Player Tracking within the framework of the FIFA Quality Programme for Electronic Performance and Tracking Systems (EPTS). This two-year agreement recognises PlayerData as an industry leader, with expertise contributing to the development of technical standards for EPTS.

Professional Australian baseball team, the Adelaide Giants, identified the value in digitising the fan experience and partnered with Cellr to design and deploy a multi-layered strategy that amplified engagement, attendance, and revenue. Cellr provided expertise and insights to strategically support the Adelaide Giants vision, and rapidly deployed the Cellr platform to support 4 key activations fan engagement, CRM growth and attendance lift.

Melbourne Girls Grammar School (MGGS) has embedded Lumin Strength in its sports development program, providing 500 student-athletes and five coaches with a central platform for strength and conditioning (S&C) development. MGGS will use the Australian-made S&C platform to program, monitor and communicate training across year levels and teams as part of its broader athletic development strategy. MGGS is the latest Australian school to embed Lumin in its programs and follows St Joseph’s Nudgee College, Geelong College and Xavier College to adopt the platform.

The Collectiv Foundation, in collaboration with Rice University, has announced the creation of the AI Native Dual-Use Sports, Health & Wellness Accelerator. The accelerator will officially launch in March and will be hosted at the Ion, the epicenter of the Ion District and Houston’s emerging venture advantage platform. The accelerator will focus on high-growth sportstech verticals, including but not limited to performance and health, fan experience and media platforms, data and analytics, and enterprise infrastructure. 

Minimis is consolidating the $US 20 billlion wearables market by merging the sports watch and bike computer into a standalone head-up display sunglasses. Minimis Flow will let runners and cyclists track and see everything they need within a lightweight pair of sports sunglasses, without dependence on any other device. The glasses will be fully standalone with a built-in optical heart rate tracker, ANT+ chip, GPS, eSIM and more. This enables athletes to leave their phones at home and make calls on the go. The funding round was backed by Entrepreneur VC, technical leadership from Microsoft HoloLens and a US track cycling champion.

FIBA has underlined its commitment to driving innovation and excellence in global basketball by confirming the inaugural Test Event for Automated Video Solutions on March 24 and 25 in Doha, Qatar. FIBA's inaugural product test event for Automated Video Solutions marks a milestone by validating real-world performance with clearly defined performance metrics. It will serve as an essential evidentiary basis, establishing a pathway for industry technologies seeking FIBA Approval. All assessments undertaken at the FIBA Test Events in Doha will be conducted by industry experts, the Institute of Sports Tech Standards (ISTS) and Sports Labs Ltd.

NYC-based ScorePlay has improved digital asset management for 300 teams, leagues and sports organizations worldwide. ScorePlay uses AI for tagging and sorting of media assets, a combination that provides value for league staff looking for specific pieces of content for things like social media and marketing. With Tennis Australia, ScorePlay acted as the central hub for rights access for all organizations working around the event or remotely. By creating this production layer on top of the camera feeds, ScorePlay gave broadcast room capabilities to anyone connected to the Australian Open through the platform.

The Australian Sports Technologies Network (ASTN), in partnership with LIV Golf, delivered a ASTN & LIV Golf Sportstech Showcase & Industry Event in Adelaide on 10th February, celebrating South Australia’s growing sports innovation and technology ecosystem. Held in the lead-up to LIV Golf Adelaide, the event brought together leaders from sport, technology, data, media, startups, investment and government to explore how innovation is shaping elite performance, fan engagement and the future of professional sport. Panelists included leaders from LIV Golf, Champion Data and the Adelaide Crows FC.

HUMAIN, backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, has acquired a controlling stake in London-based ai.io to launch HUMAIN Sport division. The combined entity will deploy AI-powered sports technology across Saudi Arabia and international markets, spanning grassroots to elite performance. Ai.io’s existing products include 3DAT markerless motion capture, aiScout talent identification platform, and aiLab facility integration software.

China's biggest sportswear brand Anta Sports Products has struck a deal to buy a 29% stake in Puma from the Pinault family for 1.5 billion euros ($US 1.8 billion), making it the biggest shareholder in the German sportswear maker. Anta said it would ‌use its expertise to help struggling Puma increase its sales in the lucrative Chinese market. The deal also helps Fila owner and Salomon backer Anta in its quest to become a more global business.

European Leagues and LaSource have been working together to shape the Sports Data Value Chain (SDVC) project: a strategic initiative designed to help member leagues gain more control of their sports data and build the foundations for a shared, future-ready data ecosystem. The European Leagues brings together 40 professional leagues representing more than 1,170 clubs across 34 countries and over 70 football divisions. 

Otro Capital has announced the close of its inaugural sports fund, Otro Capital Fund I, with $US 1.2 billion in committed capital. Fund I represents the largest first-time, dedicated sports buyout fund ever raised globally. The Fund is targeting investments where it believes professionalized operations, intellectual property, and enhanced governance can unlock significant value.

Volleyball NSW has announced a new partnership with Club Ducks, aimed at supporting Premier League clubs with a modern tool to better manage their current and future sponsors. Through the partnership, Premier League clubs will gain access to Club Ducks’ sponsorship management platform, a purpose-built resource designed to help clubs organise, maintain, and grow their sponsorship and partner relationships. The platform enables clubs to track existing sponsors and deliverables, while also providing tools to create professional pitch decks that can be used to attract new commercial partners. 

Catapult, a global leader in sports technology for professional teams, following its acquisition of Perch in June 2025, announced the next generation of its athlete performance ecosystem with Perch P2. Perch is a comprehensive performance solution for programming and assessing athlete readiness and training using velocity-based training (VBT). Catapult built Perch P2 to extend performance monitoring beyond the rack, delivering portable and precise athlete data in the gym and on the field. 

This is the story of how Australia overcame geographical isolation to build the world's most innovative tech empire in tennis. 

The National Basketball Association (NBA) today announced the five companies that will make up the fifth cohort of NBA Launchpad, the league’s initiative to source, evaluate, and pilot emerging technologies to further impact the future of basketball. The five companies include Atlas, a brain-sensing wearable; CRED, an intelligence platform for sponsorship lead-generation; Diddo, an API for rights holders and publishers to integrate shoppable moments within media platforms; Peripheral Labs, a spatial intelligence platform focused on applying autonomous vehicle technology to reconstruct live sports, and; Swish Basket, an AI-powered basketball training and gaming platform.

Table Tennis Australia (TTA) has launched Table Tennis TV, a dedicated over-the-top (OTT) digital platform designed to transform how the Australian table tennis community experiences, follows, and engages with the sport. Rolling out ahead of last weekend’s TTA Invitational, Table Tennis TV provides a single destination for live matches, on-demand replays, highlights, and competition content across both national and state level events. The platform was developed by SportVot, an India-based sports technology company and TTA’s broadcast production partner. 

AO Ventures, the venture capital arm of Tennis Australia, has backed four pioneering early-stage businesses in its first nine months since launch. AO Ventures have made investments into Bolt6, a global leader in AI-powered officiating, broadcast, and data services; Raven Controls, an incident management platform for large scale events; Mindspring Padel, tech-enabled Padel court infrastructure, and; Padel Haus, a premium padel club operator in the US.

Nine new companies have joined Tennis Australia's AO StartUps, strengthening theircommitment to AI enabled innovation across sport and major events. The new cohort includes VueMotion, Bettercup, CRED, Bronco, truefuels, National Pickleball League, Aircast, RootNote and Outcoach. This reflects the program’s commitment to shaping the future of sport, sustainability, fan engagement and performance through real world experimentation at the Australian Open. A total of 41 startups have piloted their solutions with AO Startups over the last 4 years.

Athvance Capital has launched a European investment platform dedicated to building scaled sports assets across intellectual property, technology, and services, as private capital increasingly targets under-commercialised segments of the global sports industry. The platform is founded by Danny Menken, former managing director of Eurosport and co-founder of Eleven Sports, alongside Karim Ben Rejeb, a former JPMorgan investment banker.

HITIQ, a leader in concussion management, has announced an exclusive three‑year partnership with Hockey Australia, commencing in 2026. The agreement designates HITIQ as the organisation’s Official Player Safety Partner and integrates PROTEQT™ across Australia’s entire hockey pathway, from grassroots participation through to elite high‑performance programs. Hockey Australia strongly endorses mouthguards as essential safety equipment. This partnership elevates that standard by embedding a technology‑enabled safety framework supported by education, monitoring tools, and player‑welfare resources.

ESG Perform has launched a game-changing platform to help companies benchmark their reporting of Environmental, Social and Governance performance. ESG Perform have built a platform comprised of 23 measurable elements as a benchmark for companies to measure performance.

Genius Sports has struck a deal to acquire Legend's sports and gaming media network worth up to $US1.2 billion, which the sports technology company plans to combine with its FanHub platform. Legend offers marketing technology for owned and operated digital properties while syndicating sports and betting content for the likes of Yahoo Sports and Sports Illustrated. Genius said the company helped generate 320 million visits from 118 million unique visits in 2025.

With $US 200 billion in total announced deal value across more than 1,000 deals, 2025 was an unprecedented deal making year in sports Tech with a wave of mega-mergers, according to Drake Star's latest Sportstech Report. The year featured five $US 1 billion-plus acquisitions, 23 private financings exceeding $US 100 million, and $US 12 billion of new funds being raised for sports acquisitions and investments. Notable M&A deals included Netflix’s $US 82.7 billion acquisition offer for the streaming and studios division of Warner Bros Discovery, and Saudi PIF and Silver Lake’s $US 55 billion acquisition of EA. Some of the large private placements included DAZN's $US 2.4 billion financing, Oura ($US 900 million), NEP Group ($US 700 million) and Teamworks ($US 235 million).

LiveHeats, a leading scoring and competition management software platform for action sports, has launched AthleteiQ. AthleteiQ utilises a decade of Liveheats event data to provide surfers with pro-level statistics previously reserved for the top surfers on the World Surf League Championship Tour. This includes predictive match-up analysis, longitudinal performance tracking and outcome analytics.

PBR Australia, in partnership with SportsAI, has announced the official launch of the Watch PBR Australia LIVE app for the 2026 Monster Energy Tour season. This platform builds on traditional livestream viewing and redefines how fans connect and engage with live sport and its athletes, delivering a fully immersive 360° virtual reality experience, live from inside the arena. The app blends live sport, immersive technology and interactive viewing.

Melbourne-based allied health tech companyStrength By Numbers (SBN) has acquired Mate Sports Tech, the creators of Timing Mate and Barbell Mate. Mate Sports Tech has built highly trusted tools for speed, agility, and power measurement. Their products have earned a strong reputation worldwide, and complement the Strength By Numbers ecosystem.

Volleyball WA has announced a new partnership with FrogBox, an Australian sports technology company that connects sporting communities through accessible and shareable video. FrogBox will introduce its live-streaming technology to the sport, allowing matches to be easily broadcast, shared and accessed by athletes, officials, supporters and the wider community. The partnership will be piloted at the Alcohol. Think Again Beach Tour (ATABT) WA Open 2026.

Full body VR movement platform Virtuix has listed on the US-based Nasdaq, and secured $US 11 million investment from Chicago Venture Partners. Tcompany said the proceeds are expected to support several initiatives, including the sales and marketing of Omni One, its at-home gaming system that features a treadmill-like platform and lets players enjoy 360-degree movement within a virtual world. Players wear a VR headset and can walk or run safely in any direction, as well as crouch and jump, secured by an adjustable support vest attached to a metal arm.

The Japan Australian Sports & Health Innovation Exchange (JASHIE), which is hosting a series of events in Queensland from 16-20 March, is offering Australian sportstech and healthtech startups the opportunities to pitch to one of Japan's leading sports businesses, Mizuno Corporation. Mizuno is actively seeking partners developing technologies in two interest areas including mental training, running, smart arenas, exercise performance visualisation, body temperature, sleep and body odour. ASTN is a partner in the JASHIE program, and is promoting the program to its member-base.  

Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Dončić today announced the launch of 77X, a company he built to create original entertainment, collectibles, merchandise, and live experiences for his fans, and Fan Pass, a free membership platform available now at 77x.world. He is the first athlete to bring everything he creates – from content and products to events and community – into a single direct-to-fan universe, giving members early access to limited drops, exclusive content, and a voice in what gets made.

Nominees for the fourth Sports Business Tech Awards have been announced, with South Australian company, MyVenue nominated in the category for Venue and Franchise Operations Technology. Spanning eight different categories, the 46 finalists were selected by the Sport Business Journal (SBJ) in-house judging committees for their innovation, creativity, organizational excellence, industry influence, and leadership over the past year. External judging panels will now determine the winners, who will be revealed on May 18 at the Hard Rock Hotel in New York City. 

Melbourne-based sports technology company PlayHQ has entered a binding agreement to be acquired by Alpine Software Group (ASG), marking a significant cross-border transaction in the global sports and recreation technology sector. The acquisition will see PlayHQ become part of ASG’s growing portfolio of vertical SaaS businesses. ASG has acquired more than 45 software companies since 2016, focusing on scalable platforms serving highly specific industry sectors. The PlayHQ platform manages registrations, payments, competition administration and game-day operations, having processed more than 11 million registrations and scheduled 3.1 million games.

Manchester City has today launched CityCoach, a new coaching content platform designed to support coaches across the world with access to high-quality learning material based on the Club’s coaching methodology. Available through the coachbetter.com app, CityCoach brings together elements of Manchester City’s coaching expertise and modern digital innovation to deliver a rich, structured learning experience for coaches across the world.

The start-ups for the 2026 edition of UEFA's Champions Innovate, which will focus on grassroots football, have now been chosen. CoachMate, a sports education content delivery platform, has been selected as one of four startups for this year's program. Champions Innovate is a programme created to address modern, meaningful, and relevant challenges identified by UEFA and the host national association of the UEFA Champions League final. In 2026, the UEFA Champions League final will take place in Budapest, and the Champions Innovate programme will shine a spotlight on the beating heart of the game: grassroots football. ASTN member