Israel is a country not particularly known for success in the competitive sporting arena, however, its high-tech prowess is helping to establish the nation as the Silicon Valley of sports tech.
Driven by more than 200 sports-related startups, Israel is considered one of the worldwide leading countries in developing groundbreaking technologies for the sports tech industry.
From innovative platforms that redefine fans’ viewing experiences to tools for honing athletes’ performance, Israel has witnessed a boom in sports tech startup activity in recent years.
The fast-growing multibillion-dollar market is expected to triple in the next few years as it transforms our approach to personal fitness and changes the way we view, play and enjoy sports, on and offline.
The sports tech industry in Israel may be divided into the following technology segments:
- Data Analytics
- Media and Broadcasting
- Wearables and Performance Enhancement
- The Stadium of the Future
- Fan Engagement
- E-Sports
Below we mention randomly selected few Israeli startups from different technology segments in sports-tech.
In data analytics segment, PlaySight (https://playsight.com/) is a sports analytics system which provides automated video originally built for court-based sports and is able to record an athlete’s activity and motion during an entire match or training session.
In media and broadcasting segment, ABonAir Ltd (https://www.abonair.com/) provides video and wireless technologies for broadcast professionals and production teams. The company’s wireless broadcasting solutions are designed for news coverage, outdoor sports, reality shows, and other live events. The innovative technology allows for providing robust and reliable wireless video transmission while ensuring a continuous and stable broadcast session.
In performance enhancement, Acceler8 (https://acceler8.co.il/) focuses on high-speed decision making in sports, training athletes to see clearer, think quicker and respond faster using advanced technology. The training process begins with a lab assessment, continues through a comparison to a sport-specific database, and then generates an on-field training program to improve the necessary skills.
In smart stadium segment, Kwik (https://kwikme.wixsite.com/kwik-final) is an end-to-end push-button commerce solution for consumers to re-order their favourite products or services. Kwik’s open marketplace offers brands the ability to develop a direct customer relationship, increasing engagement, loyalty and sales. Unlike existing solutions, brands or services can choose their own delivery and fulfilment partners.
In the fan engagement segment, Pico Buzz (https://www.picogp.com/) provides sports marketing solutions for fan and brand engagement. It builds a tool for collecting user-generated content across social media platforms. These tools automatically collect the content which brand followers are sharing. It is then aggregated, tagged and uploaded across the brand’s social media platforms for brand promotion. It also builds up the user profile of the followers of the brand and recommends the necessary action for building further engagement.
In e-sports segment, Overwolf (https://www.overwolf.com/) specializes in reinventing user-generated content in the hardcore gaming space by creating apps to help players win and have more fun in their favourite PC games.
Reference: https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/il/Documents/finance/sport_tech_report_short.pdf
Israel Trade and Economic Commission in Sydney, Australia 