Recently, sports technologyStartups SportAI Closed $1.8 million seed roundFinancing, a platform that uses artificial intelligence to improve athletic performance.
SportAI's systems focus on coaching, commentary and analysis of sports techniques, using machine learning, computer vision and biometrics. The company focuses on the B2B market, mainly serving coaches, training facilities, media broadcasts, and sports equipment brands and retailers.
SportAI's cloud-based platform can analyze athletes' technical performance in real time and provide personalized feedback to help them improve in golf, tennis and other sports.
By comparing individual skills with data from thousands of other athletes, including professional ones, the system is able to produce automated, data-driven analysis—a service that is usually only affordable to professional athletes, but SportAI is working to make it more accessible.
The technology can also be used by the media to improve the quality of commentary during live broadcasts and provide instant technical analysis, while sports equipment brands can provide corresponding product recommendations based on the individual skills of athletes.
SportAI’s platform is hardware-agnostic and can analyze video from mobile phones, stadium cameras, and broadcast feeds. Compared to previous video analysis methods that require manual labeling and specific hardware, SportAI’s solution is more flexible and scalable.
The funding will be used to further develop SportAI's technology, expand its team and increase market penetration. The company said its platform has attracted attention in the sports industry and successfully signed its first commercial contract in June, the details of which have not yet been announced.
The seed round was led by early investor Skyfall Ventures, with participation from Norwegian pension fund MP Pensjon, former professional tennis player and founder of an AI startup Dekel Valtzer, and former Schibsted Media Group executive Sverre Munck. Chess world champion Magnus Carlsen also served as an advisor and investor in the company’s pre-seed round.
Jon Kåre Stene, partner and co-founder of Skyfall Ventures, said that they support SportAI to make expertise more accessible. SportAI's innovations and solutions are a perfect fit with their investment direction in high-growth technology startups.