The Sports Innovation Lab, a new sports technology platform, just launched today in Boston. It is the brainchild of former NFL linebacker Isaiah Kacyvenski; Josh Walker, a former VP of Research from Forrester, and four-time Olympic ice hockey medalist Angela Ruggiero.
Here is their press release:
The Sports Innovation Lab today officially launched its market research and advisory platform that will identify and evaluate the technology companies, products, and services to power the future of the sports and fitness industry.
At launch, the Sports Innovation Lab's flagship digital research platform gives client members access to more than 1,000 sports and fitness technology vendor profiles, organized into sectors that describe in depth each company's capabilities in the markets they serve. Through these rich company profiles as well as video interviews from experts across the sports industry, Sports Innovation Lab clients will be the first to learn about game-changing technology markets and trends, and gain insights they need to make better strategic decisions.
The Sports Innovation Lab's founders came from three very different backgrounds after recognizing the sea change occurring in the world of sports and fitness. Josh Walker is a proven venture-backed entrepreneur and former VP of Research from Forrester, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms. Angela Ruggiero, a four-time Olympic medalist, has spent over a decade in sports administration – she is a member of the International Olympic Committee's Executive Board and Chair of its Athletes' Commission, the Chief Strategy Officer for the LA 2024 Olympic bid. Isaiah Kacyvenski is a former NFL player and an expert in the area of quantified athlete, flexible electronics and wearable technology.
"In my role as an advisor to investors, agencies, teams, leagues, federations, brands and technology vendors I continuously saw people scrambling to make the difficult technology decisions required to build new venues, distribute new media, and design new fan experiences," said Angela Ruggiero, Managing Director of The Sports Innovation Lab. "The opportunity was clear: introduce a clear and objective source of third-party research and data so decision-makers could move quickly and have more confidence in their decisions."
"I continued to see companies in the sports and fitness space making large investments in technology with limited or partial information about the sports technology market," said Isaiah Kacyvenski. "We have organized a comprehensive overview of global sports technology that is just a start to filling that need. The market is comprised of many areas of specialization. If you don't understand that, you're operating with incomplete perspective. We have a singular goal: building the leading global sports technology market research and consulting firm."
The Sports Innovation Lab has the full support of the city of Boston as the ideal hub for global sports technology innovation. "Boston is a growing, thriving city -- and that includes Boston's business community," Mayor Martin J. Walsh said. "Boston is also a city with a strong sports culture, and I'm thrilled the Sports Innovation Lab is taking two of Boston's best attributes and leading the way in sports innovation."
Sports Innovation Lab is announcing several founding partners including IBM, Octagon, Gatorade, Booz Allen Hamilton, Go4It, STACK Media, Portico Capital, Harvard Innovation Labs, MIT Sports Technology Research Group (STE@M), the USC Center for Body Computing, and the NFLPA.
In addition to these founding partners, the Sports Innovation Lab is also proud to announce a panel of more than thirty world-class global advisors and innovators, whose market analysis and predictions will be available to clients on their website. The Sports Innovation Lab curates the opinions of these thought-leaders to provide additional insights into how technology is shaping the future of sports. Further, the academic arms will include the Harvard Innovation Labs, MIT Sports Tech Research Group (STE@M), and the USC Center for Body Computing, the Lab's West coast academic partner.
Companies interested in learning more about the Sports Innovation Lab can visit the company's website, or attend an upcoming event on February 17th, "The Rise of the Quantified Athlete," hosted in partnership with the NFLPA's OneTeam Collective and Harvard Innovation Labs. This event will bring together athletes and experts who understand how athlete data is being captured, analyzed and shared. For more information on this event, please visit: www.sportsilab.com
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