SportAI raises $1.8 million in Seed Funding

SportAI, an Oslo, Norway based B2B sports technology company, raised about $1.8 million(R32,198,850) in Seed funding.

It was led by Skyfall Ventures, and other participants including Norwegian pension fund MP Pensjon, Dekel Valtzer (ex-pro tennis player and AI startup founder) and Sverre Munck (ex-EVP at Schibsted).

The funding will help assist the scale of SportAI’s technology development, expanding the team and increase market penetration. It was founded 2023 by ex-NCAA tennis player Lauren Pedersen (CEO), Felipe Longé (CTO) and Andreas Thome (Board Chairman, ex-CEO of Play Magnus), alongside tech-startup heavyweights Espen Agdestein (Board member), and Trond Kittelsen (Head of Commercial and tennis app founder).

SportAi analyses players technique in real-time, such as tennis, golf or padel swing, before it delivers instant and personalized feedback for improving performance. By using machine learning, computer vision, and biometric technology, a person’s skill can be quickly seen against other athletes, including top professionals in sports, through both written and visual analysis.

SportAI is tapping in on growing AI in the sports market and is planning to reach $29.7 billion (R532,378,440) by 2023. The cloud-based SaaS can be used by businesses for them to enhance their broadcasting coverages, sport facilities, coaching programs, training apps and equipment brands and retailers.

In the past, video analysis in sports involved manual coach tagging with dedicated hardware, which limited growth and durability. SportAI addresses this issue using its technology that is compatible with all types of hardware. It allows for the analysis of videos taken from mobile phones, cameras positioned at courts or playing arenas, and broadcast feeds.

By partnering with large sports organizations and using video analysis allows the company to engage with diverse audiences and adding technical analysis into the training of professionals, amateur players, and fans.

This makes high-quality sports analysis accessible to players of every skill level around the globe.

Main Image: FinSMEs