By Eden
Israel’s burgeoning sports tech startup scene continues to score points and is already part of prominent platforms like WSC Sports and Sidelines.
Other new startups are also in the cat flaps warming up. It is that the sector includes more than 600 recent sports-related technology companies and more than 200 directly connected to that sports industry.
Omer Hovev, COO of Playform, a mobile app for young soccer players, told ISRAEL21c en Español: “The market is completely open now.”
Another startup, Tel Aviv-based PlaySight Interactive, is developing the SmartCourt connected camera system. Chen Shachar, co-founder and CEO of the company, stated that sports technology will continue to grow globally and especially in Israel.
“Here we have a very developed high-tech industry and we see more successful companies that can raise money or be acquired,” Shachar told ISRAEL21c in Spanish. And he added: “I think we will see more success stories in sports technology.”
These seven are some of the new Israeli companies dedicated to sports technology:
WSC Sports Technologies
The company developed artificial intelligence technology that creates real-time highlights of sporting events, automatically distributed across any platform or media channel.
WSC works with more than 200 leagues and broadcast partners around the world, including ESPN, NBA, NHL and YouTube.
Last year, its technology created 3.4 million highlights.
Simon Ironmonger, director of content and social marketing for WSC Sports, told ISRAEL21c en Español that the funding received will allow staff growth. With more than 260 employees in Tel Aviv, New York, Sydney and London, the company aims to hire 150 new employees this year.
“The new investments will be used to support our aggressive growth plans as we continue our expansion into new geographies, sports and platforms such as OTT, NFT, sports betting and more,” the executive said.
WSC Sports recently signed a three-year deal with the Italian Football Federation to create AI-powered TimVision Serie A highlights.
In late February, the company announced a partnership with the NTT Indycar Series to bring AI-powered highlights directly to racing fans.
Pixellot
Pixellot’s automated sports broadcasting technology was created for times like the COVID-19 pandemic, when teams played in empty stadiums and revenue streams dried up.
The Pixellot Air system installed in La Masía, the FC Barcelona youth academy in Spain. Photo courtesy of Pixellot
“The COVID-19 crisis highlighted the need for very low cost production because many clubs do not have the manpower or sufficient funds to broadcast games. This was great for lower level sports,” said Yossi Tarablus, Associate Vice President of Global Marketing for Pixellot.
The manager stated that during the pandemic many clubs and leagues did not have live coverage, so at Pixellot we allow them to not only capture and connect with fans, but also monetize this content. “We did it in many countries,” he declared.
Pixellot’s technology is installed in more than 20,000 locations in 57 countries. And up to 5,000 games are streamed simultaneously.
The company signed an agreement with Cam Plus Sport, a Dubai-based sports broadcast system integrator. “We love driving this opportunity. There is nothing like sports to bridge the gaps between nations and this is truly one of our proudest moments. We are very happy that we are promoting sports in the United Arab Emirates”, explained Tarablus.
Pixellot also closed a multi-year agreement with six German state football associations that allows up to 5,000 supporter clubs to have access to Pixellot’s video streaming and analytics capabilities.
BlazePod
Yaniv Shneiderman, founder and CEO of BlazePod, told ISRAEL21c that his company’s technology is exactly what the sports world needs: an innovative solution to the current training trend of combining mental and physical exercises.
BlazePod Training Kit. Photo courtesy of BlazePod
The company’s reaction training system provides simultaneous cognitive and physical challenges that increase performance in all fields with lights, sensors and a smartphone app.
“We see a growing movement towards blending our minds as part of the development and training of young and professional athletes. And we work hard to increase offerings around mind and body training. That is the general direction in the evolution of BlazePod’s products and activities. We develop activities for different vertical sports that use our method to improve field-specific skills, as well as products that facilitate that process,” Shneiderman explained.
Dr. Asaf Blatt, a Tel Aviv sports psychology consultant, said he uses BlazePod with his clients to “improve awareness, focus skills and deal with frustration on the field.”
In a talk with ISRAEL21c in Spanish, Blatt said that he uses various local advanced technologies to simulate challenging situations, which forces users to integrate emotional regulation techniques into their sports practice.
PlaySight
Chen Shachar said that PlaySight was the first company in the market to “democratize sports technology” after making artificial intelligence and deep learning capabilities available to all levels.
“SmartCourt can provide multiple services because when it connects the court to the Internet and has cameras, it can stream the action live without cameramen, which means fans from all over the world or parents can follow their children or their favorite teams,” growth.
PlaySight covers some 30 sports in more than 30 countries, including 140 US college athletic programs and 18 NBA teams that use PlaySight for performance and training videos. The company has 80 employees who work in Kfar Sava and New Jersey.
Shachar indicated that the company will grow further and fulfill its vision of connecting sports venues around the world. “We knew we could distribute our AI-based mobile technology to millions of consumers around the world and become a leading entity in the market,” he remarked.
Playform
Omer Hovev said the Rehovot-based company will expand the mobile app to include sports other than soccer.
After just one year on the market, the application already has more than 100,000 monthly users from more than 120 countries.
The “digital coach” technology that measures a player’s performance in real time took four years to develop. “A big part of the app is the community. We have competitions where players compete against each other and can see their performance. We’re building a whole community within the app for those young athletes, and that’s a global thing,” he stressed.
Track160
Based in Tel Aviv, Track160 developed an automated video-based sports analysis tool that uses optical tracking technology and deep learning algorithms to provide data on player and ball movements.
“Track160 nació con la visión de brindarles datos a todos. Hoy, menos del uno por ciento del mercado del fútbol tiene acceso a datos. Estamos aquí para cambiar eso y ayudar a nivelar el campo de juego”, dijo Eyal Ben-Ari, director ejecutivo de la empresa.
Ben-Ari le dijo a ISRAEL21c en Español que Track160 trabaja con varias ligas y clubes profesionales de sub-élite y se expande al nivel juvenil con jugadores de 14 años en adelante.
Durante la pandemia, la compañía lanzó su escudo COVID-19-19 pendiente de patente, que rastrea continuamente a los jugadores y árbitros en el campo. Luego, la tecnología puede mostrar datos para un rango de 2 metros de cada jugador y cualquier otro jugador que ingresó a ese rango.
Sidelines
This Tel Aviv-based company was founded in 2017.
The following year, the US legalized sports betting, allowing Sidelines to introduce new products and initiatives.
“The biggest change was in 2018 when the US regulated sports forecasts. Something that was not regulated and was happening mainly in Europe, not only became legal but also became widespread”, explained Or Lifshitz, co-founder and CEO.
Currently, the company has 50 employees of which 35 are located in Tel Aviv.
According to Lifshitz, the company emphasizes the social aspect of gambling with less emphasis on winning (or losing) money, similar to online fantasy sports competitions popular in the US market.
“Sports betting should be much more attractive and fun. Money should not be the main incentive here. It should be more social,” said the entrepreneur.
Source: Israel21C