ASTN Growth-Stage Mentors

Ben Sandhu

Investment – Sales, Distribution & Channels – Export – Advanced Materials – Grassroots Sports

Ben Sandhu has advised startups and accelerators for a number of years in both the UK and Australia before joining Ida Sports as a co-founder in 2018. He is passionate about using business as a force for social change. Ben has previously headed up RMIT’s LaunchHUB programme, and was a Senior Lecturer and Industry Fellow at Monash Business School.

Using his background in professional sport, Ben helped build Ida from its first prototype into a thriving company that has received investment from the LA Dodgers, the Billie Jean King Foundation, Elysian Park Ventures and R/GA Ventures. He secured contracts with two of the largest sports retailers in the US that has seen Ida's products distributed across the USA.

More than anything though, Ben loves helping people that are passionate about a problem turn their ideas into thriving businesses.

Joan Norton

Business of Sport – Grassroots Sports & Active Living – Data & Analytics

Dr. Joan Norton is a seasoned leader in the sports innovation sector, with extensive experience driving technology-driven change in professional sports. Formerly the head of the HYPE Sportstech Accelerator, Joan has played a pivotal role in shaping the future of sports tech, particularly in data analytics, media rights, and fan engagement. Her career includes significant roles at Cricket Australia, where she worked across data/analytics and media rights, and she currently serves on the board of Rugby Victoria. Joan was recently named to the ASTN's Power 100 List for Women in Sports Innovation and holds a board position with American Football Australia. In addition to her industry roles, Joan leads the Swinburne Innovation Studio, supporting student startups and research spinouts. Her deep understanding of the intersection between technology, sports, and business positions her as a valuable mentor for startups looking to make their mark in the sports tech industry.

Kimon Taliadoros

Elite & High Performance – Business of Sport – Grassroots Sports

Kimon is a skilled senior executive and board director, with experience in football market transformation. Most recently, he held the roles of CEO and President of Football Victoria through a period of macro national structural reform and has a strong network domestically and internationally. His areas of focus include innovation and market entry of emerging products and services, which he developed during his executive career spanning sustainability, new media, technology and finance. Kimon holds an MBA, a B.Bus.(Accounting) and is a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Kimon is a Director of the Steve Waugh Foundation. As a former Socceroo, Kimon is a strong believer in the latent value of Australian sporting IP to domestic communities and international markets.

Marilou McFarlane

Specializing in athlete, team and coach performance in the sports tech industry for 14+ years, Marilou has led numerous businesses in a variety of C-suite and founding roles at innovative sports tech startups based in the U.S. She regularly advises, mentors and coaches founders on the fundamentals of startup success, including business modeling for revenue generation, growth-focused marketing, investor presentations, board communications and more.

She is a frequent podcast and panel guest passionate about sports tech, improving business cultures, and the incredible array of opportunities in the exploding industry. Addressing the needs of employers in sports tech, she founded the non-profit Women in Sports Tech (WiST) which offers business leaders programs that foster more diverse talent pipelines and cultures of inclusivity as well as college and grad students opportunities for meaningful summer internship experiences. She has been honored by the Sports Business Journal's All-In Recognition for DEI impact that improves talent identification and retention in the sports tech ecosystem.

Prior to her work in sportstech, she worked in advertising, marketing and strategic partnerships for Turner Broadcasting and CBS Radio. A lifelong competitive athlete, she is a former University of North Carolina cross-country athlete with a major in Business Administration and is a 3:06 marathon runner.

Mark Thompson

Sales Distribution & Channels – Marketing & Communications – ICT – Business of Sport

Mark is an outcome focused executive with a track record of leading and implementing strategic thinking and operational management throughout the SaaS, sports and commercial sectors. An expert in corporate development strategy, stakeholder engagement and leading teams to exceed expectations to achieve a desired goal for the benefit of an organisation, their stakeholders and staff.

As the founder of one of ASTN's original success stories, SponServe, Mark led the team through ideation, launch, global expansion, seed and series A rounds, exit and successful achievement of an earnout. Throughout that time Mark built the business to work with some of the biggest and best teams, leagues and brands across Australasia, Europe and North America, ultimately building a client list of over 700 organisations globally.

Mark has since mentored a number of Australian start-ups and continues to look to help emerging growth organisations in the sports tech sector today.

Monica Bradley

Investment - Sales, Distribution & Channels - Export - ICT - Governance - Sustainability

Monica is an experienced company Chair and an advocate for climate, inclusion, and innovation.  She supports emerging ventures who create new business models that are anchored in purpose, enabled by technology, inclusive by design and centred around problems aligned to the SDG’s. Monica is the Chair of Circonomy, MI Global and Resolutions Health and a founding partner in the WOELF women’s loan fund.  She has deep experience in technology, machinery of government, investment funds and global food sourcing, trading & logistics and has held senior leadership roles in New York, Abu Dhabi, Sydney and Canberra in the global trade, investment, and technology sectors.

Her person anthem of “Growth without compromise” translates her ambition for ventures to design for inclusion, impact, zero carbon and deliver financially. “Women don’t need fixing we need funding. The system is broken AND when we design for women the experience is better for everyone.”

Nickie Gibson

Nickie is an executive business, marketing and media professional with 27+ years' experience in business & marketing strategy, digital transformation, data & analytics, research & insights, brand strategy & identity, digital & social media, public relations and sponsorship. Nickie is the Founder & CEO of Chief Meta Chicks, a women's business, tech and start-up community; and Alchemy8 Media, a business & marketing consultancy.

Nickie’s current board directorships include Vice President of AusTriathlon and Executive Chair of SportScan. Nickie is the former CEO of global media agency Zenith and former Non-Executive Director of Basketball Australia and the FIBA Women’s World Cup 2022. Nickie is passionate about supporting founders to bring impact ventures to life, and in particular in levelling the playing field for women founders, entrepreneurs and business owners and supporting them to build the confidence, business foundations and runway for success.

Stu Williams

Marketing & Communications - Sales Channels - Grassroots Sports 

A relentless curiosity honed by a decade of motorsport reporting across Europe has served Shunt founder Stu Williams well in his ongoing research into how Australian sport is using social media. The Shunt dataset now encompasses 1,000 administrators and 33,000 community clubs who last year alone published 3.4 million posts and generated a billion engagements. Across grassroots sports, Stu is tracking the activity of around 19,000 community clubs from 75 sports to document the social media journey each sport is on and highlight the really interesting stories that emerge from that. Having advised more than 50 organisations to date, Stu has become a well-respected expert on all things social media.

Amy Crosland

ICT – Business of Sport – Elite & Performance

Amy brings a wealth of expertise from her diverse background in international development, government, NGOs, and corporate sectors, before transitioning to the tech industry. Her skills span strategic and operational leadership, business development, business analysis, solution design, user experience, and product management. With over a decade of experience in the sportstech industry, Amy has collaborated with Australia’s largest sporting leagues and governing bodies, delivering digital solutions in areas such as integrity, governance, and operations. She has also supported the expansion of sportstech products into European and US markets. Amy is well-versed in the challenges of balancing multiple roles within small teams and startup environments.

Cam Vale

Elite & High Performance – Business of Sport – Grassroots Sports

With 23 years of experiences as an executive leader across four sports, Melbourne-based Cam Vale has a proven history at the highest levels of sports administration in Australia. A Chartered Accountant, Cam has been CEO of two sports – Baseball Australia and Hockey Australia, and COO of North Melbourne Football Club in Australia’s biggest sport, Australian Football League, where he was awarded the prestigious Graeme Samuel Scholarship from the AFL in 2012. Across these roles, Cam had a proven record in leadership to deliver commercial, high performance, international stakeholder and grassroots success. Since October 2021 Cam has combined running his own sports management company focused on supporting events and media partnerships in Oceania alongside his roles with the ASTN. Cam also is a member of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) Executive Board and a Director of not-for-profit Sports Environmental Alliance. In his three years with the ASTN as firstly GM and now CFO and Strategic Projects, Cam has assisted a number of ASTN members in strategy and growth and has a strong network inside sport in Australia and internationally.

Craig Hill

ICT – Investment – Market Applications

Craig is a leading intelligence source on Australia’s sports technology industry and its application and connection to global markets. Craig co-founded the Australian Sports Technologies Network in 2012 and was its inaugural Executive Director through to 2017. He developed and implemented the first-ever sports technology industry and innovation program in Australia including trade missions, accelerator programs, entrepreneurship bootcamps, pitching competitions, industry showcases and conferences. With a background in business advisory and industry research, Craig provides startups with a deep understanding of what is required to build a successful business in the sportstech industry. Craig has engaged with hundreds of sportstech companies over the past 12 years and has provided strategy, advice and connections to startups and SMEs in ASTN's Accelerator and Pre-Accelerator Programs since 2014.

Martin Schlegel

Market Applications – Advanced Materials – Sensors & Devices – Export – Investment 

With a background in novel materials and sensors & devices, Martin has worked globally in various senior roles across multiple continents in advanced manufacturing, ICT and M&A. Prior to his roles at ASTN focusing on startup programs, global partnerships and export growth, Martin worked on sports infrastructure projects across Australasia, Europe & USA, including Olympic Games. He holds a PhD in natural science from Germany’s oldest technical university specializing in Chemical Engineering, MSc in Chemistry and engaged in economic studies in his doctorate program. In addition, Martin completed his executive business education at UC Berkeley Haas in the USA. He has led multiple ASTN trade missions and excursions to overseas markets and mentored several startup founders from early-stage to growth-stage assisting with their export readiness. Martin volunteers in various board positions, provides technical and consulting advice to stakeholders in the sports industry and has served as non-executive director in businesses in Australia and internationally. He is corresponding co-author of the chapter ‘The Reach of Sports Technologies’ in the book ‘21st Century Sports’ and co-contributed a chapter to the book ‘Clusters of Innovation in the Age of Disruption'.

Nikita Vogel

Communications – Elite & High-Performance

Nikita Vogel is a dynamic leader with extensive experience in revenue optimisation, project management, and commercialisation. As the Queensland Manager for ASTN and a key architect of women’s sports initiatives at Basketball Australia, she has been instrumental in shaping strategic directions that drive growth, enhance operational efficiency, and elevate industry impact.

Nikita’s expertise in managing diverse stakeholder groups, navigating change management, and optimising processes ensures effective execution of strategic initiatives.

Nikita is the co-founder of Revolve Athletic, a physical performance business that supports over 700 athletes across multiple sports in Southeast Queensland. Through this endeavour, Nikita understands the business of sport but also the challenges and opportunities athletes face, allowing her to bridge the gap between athletic performance and commercial success.

In the sports sector, Nikita is recognised for conceptualising and commercialising innovative sports initiatives. She excels in leading digital transformation projects and devising complex strategies that drive significant impact for organisations and stakeholders.