Miami Dolphins, River Plate & FIBA are among 13 top sports brands to announce ground-breaking solutions at the HYPE Global Virtual Accelerator Demo Day

LONDON, Sept. 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 20 Pilots with 13 Global Sports Clubs and Federations to be announced Tomorrow at the biggest SportsTech event of the year - the HYPE Global Virtual Accelerator Clubs & Federations Demo Day.

The world of sports was turned on its head at the beginning of 2020 with it being amongst the first industries to suffer mass cancellations, delays, and extreme changes. What ensued? A surge of challenges around fan engagement, broadcasting, sponsorship deals, and other sport activities. This new reality, led HYPE S.I. to launch a new global program – the HYPE Global Virtual Accelerator (GVA).

The pinnacle of the GVA program are our strong partners, covering 6 sports, 9 countries, and 4 continents: Miami Dolphins, Los Angeles Football Club, Paris Saint-Germain F.C., Club Atlético River Plate, FIBA, Tennis Australia, New York Islanders, Toronto Blue Jays, Royal Belgian Football Association, ASER Group (Leeds Utd, Eleven Sport) and 1. FC Köln.

The Global Virtual Accelerator began with 1,000+ startups which have applied from around the globe, and HYPE filtered out the best ones selecting 25 to spend one whole virtual week with the Clubs and Federations back in June and ultimately 20 were selected to enter the business development phase where they would each spend the next 8 weeks 1-1 with executives from each club; scoping out a potential pilot. 

What started a couple of months ago, amidst the outbreak of COVID19, quickly became a real success story, by connecting some of the leading sports clubs and federations in the world with some of the most innovative, mind-blowing startups and solutions which are solving the sports industry's most urgent challenges and pain points as a result of the pandemic.

Amir Raveh, Founder & President of HYPE S.I. said: "This venture proved that even during challenging times, it is possible for all the sports ecosystem to unite and work together to find solutions for real challenges, and take the whole sports tech universe a major step forward, in an unusual reality".

The program was co-designed and professionally managed by Ryan McCumber, bringing his leadership and experience to the action.

"This program has been more shark tank than an accelerator, and at the end of the day it was designed with business outcomes in mind.  We exceeded my expectations with at least 20 pilots being announced on Tuesday, some of them even paid pilots.  A pilot with a top tier club is exactly what these startups needed during Corona while they were on lockdown; they secured work with some of the leading clubs in the world (that's how I measure success!)" says McCumber.

Tomorrow - 8 September the program comes to a conclusion where more than TWENTY PILOTS ARE TO BE ANNOUNCED.  We only have 13 clubs in the program so several clubs selected more than one solution which is a true testament to the innovation that these sports tech companies brought to the table.

With over 800 Confirmed guests, the Demo Day promises to be interactive and engaging for all, the audience will have the ability to challenge the startups with questions and also approach them directly in order to create follow-up engagements. 

In addition, following the success of the current GVA and due to the large demand from both Startups & partners, HYPE is now launching the next cycle of the GVA. Starting end November and already inviting startups to pre-register.

Contact: 
Ms. Roni Goldberger – VP Partnerships HYPE Sports Innovation 
roni@hypesportsinnovation.com

SOURCE HYPE Sports Innovation