History
Early 2010 Stakeholder consultations commence to explore the concept of IT and Sports as part of the regional IT cluster (ICT Geelong) based in Geelong, Victoria (southwest to Melbourne Metropolitan region)
Early 2011 A Partnership between ICT Geelong, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) and Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) incorporate an IT and Sports' stream into annual pitching competition. Melbourne Business Angel, Bob Beaumont is instrumental in guiding the ASTN early on by facilitating introductions to UCLA and UC Berkeley in the USA including Silicon Valley entrepreneur and founder of the lean launchpad methodology, Steve Blank, and venture capital and cluster of innovation expert, Prof. Jerry Engel at the Haas School of Business (https://executive.berkeley.edu/bob-beaumont).
October 2011 Federal Government's Department of Industry and Innovation (via Enterprise Connect Innovate Region Centre) hosts workshop with Prof. Jerry Engel, University of California in Berkeley (USA), Industry Advisor with the Department of Industry and Innovation, Mark Kelly, assists James Demetriou, Craig Hill and ICT Geelong to establish a business plan which combined with significant stakeholder support, gets submitted for funding request to the Federal Minister of Sport.
2012 Australian market in GDP from sports tech (based on ABS-data, Australian Bureau of Statistics) AUD$250m and around 2,500 employees in the sector.
April 2012 Senator Kate Lundy, Federal Minister for Sport and Assisting Minister for Industry and Innovation announces a 2-year funding grant to establish the Australian Sports Technologies Network (ASTN)
The Australian Sports Technologies Network (ASTN) is officially established as a not-for-profit membership organization on 18 April 2012. Craig Hill is appointed the first Executive Director and James Demetriou becomes the inaugural Chair
Alex Mednis, Andrew Walton & Daniel James appointed as inaugural directors.
October 2012 ASTN holds the first-ever Australian Sports Technology Conference including the inaugural Sports Technology Innovation Bootcamp in Geelong. The 2-day event, which is attended by over 300 delegates and 30 industry expert speakers, is opened by Senator Lundy and the Chair of the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) John Wylie https://www.ausleisure.com.au/news/australian-sports-technologies-network-to-host-inaugural-national-conference. Prof Danny Samson from The University of Melbourne releases an industry market study on behalf of ASTN. A Special Australian edition of the International Sports Technology Journal is issued featuring Australia's leading sports technology research.
June 2013 Australian Sports Commission (ASC) underwrites ASTN membership for more than 70 national sporting federations and the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in a 2-year partnership. Under the partnership, the ASTN provides digital transformation masterclasses and workshops to sports federations.
August 2013 ASTN holds second Australian Sports Technology Conference attended by over 350 delegates. The former Head of Innovation at Nike, Erez Morag holds keynote presentation and facilities innovation bootcamp sessions attended by sportstech firms, sport federations and universities.
Early 2013 Under the Federal Government's Industry Innovation Precincts (IIP) support program, the ASTN, in partnership with ASC, AIS, Australian Football League (AFL), Tennis Australia and a number of leading sportstech firms like Catapult Sports, Champion Data, Fusion Sport and universities secure bid-support for AUD$6m in-principle funding to be matched with third party contributions. After change in Federal Government in late 2013, the IIP program is formally abolished by new Federal Government in early 2014.
Mid 2014 During transition, Manufacturing Excellence Taskforce Australia (META) supports industry partnership and Australian Sports Technology Conference with ASTN in 1-year funding grant before META is officially wound up in June 2015. ASTN facilitates first accelerator program called 'HeadStart' based on a funding grant extended by the City of Greater Geelong https://www.ausleisure.com.au/news/sports-tech-businesses-get-a-headstart-into-300-billion-market/
November 2014 State Government of Victoria announces funding support to the ASTN under the Manufacturing Productivity Networks (MPN) scheme. With MPN assistance ASTN extends program offering to develop export strategies, facilitate business matching and trade missions to Europe, India and USA. High potential sportstech firms also gain access to the Global Access Program (GAP) delivered at UCLA in California (USA).
January 2015 Appointment of Professor Franz Fuss (Swinburne University) to the ASTN Board of Directors
Early 2015 ASTN extends corporate partnerships with PwC and newly founded early-stage venture capital form The Australian Sports Tech Company (TASC).
Mid 2015 ASC and AIS renew partnership with ASTN for 2-year period
November 2015 ASTN hosts the "Australian Sports Technologies Showcase & Executive Luncheon" at the AIS Arena in Canberra supported by the ACT Government, the Australian Sports Commission and PwC. As part of the agenda, at the ceremony of the 4th Annual Pitching Competition, awards were presented to sports tech companies Rosterfy, Sponserve and OnTheGo Sports.
Early 2016 ASTN relocates from Geelong to Melbourne and co-locates offices with Madgwicks Laywers in Melbourne's CBD as part of partnership agreement
May 2016 First Australian Sports Technology trade mission to India and pre-Olympic Games sports innovation trade visit to Brazil
May 2016 Appointment of Dr Martin Schlegel (Lead Mentor for Accelerator and Pre-Accelerator Programs) to the ASTN Board of Directors
Mid 2016 ASTN received funding under Victorian Government startup agency LaunchVic under inaugural, 2-year funding agreement to facilitate acceleration programs. https://launchvic.org/rounds/round-1, https://launchvic.org/programs/astn-accelerator
October 2016 ASTN hosts sportech delegation from The Netherlands visits Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney and Dutch Sport & technology sign Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
March 2017 Australian Sports Technology trade mission to the USA including visits to MIT Sports Analytics in Boston plus business matching in San Francisco and Los Angeles with the likes of the San Francisco 49ers, the Golden State Warriors, Red Bull, the US Olympic Committee, Stanford, and UC Berkeley
2017/2018 ASTN and STWS form partnership, appointment of John R Persico to ASTN Board of Directors
May 2018 Australian Sports Technology trade mission to Europe including visits to Amsterdam and Eindhoven (Netherlands), Dusseldorf, Berlin and Munich (Germany). Meetings and business matching as part of the Sports Innovation Summit hosted by the German Bundesliga, sports equipment and apparel tradeshow ISPO and visits to universities, research institutes and sportstech accelerator leAD (grandchildren of adidas founder).
2018 Global Sportstech Industry valued at USD$27.5 billion and expected to grow to USD$93.8 billion by 2027 (according to KPMG/LaunchVic report)
February 2019 Appointment of Shaun Bajada (Executive Director of the Australian Sporting Goods Association) appointed to the ASTN Board of Directors
March 2019 Australian Sports Technology trade mission to the USA including visits to Boston MA, Atlanta GA, San Antonio TX and San Francisco CA
May 2019 ASTN is invited to participate in SportAccord 2019 and ASTN Members are selected to present sportstech at the Gold Goast event
June-October 2019 Australian Sports & Sports Technology trade mission to China including invite-only attendance of Annual Internet Conference in Wuzhen https://astn.com.au/global-expansion/
August 2019 Victorian State Government via its startup agency LaunchVic announce further funding support for ASTN Accelerator program
August 2019 ASTN collaborates with Sports Tech World Series (STWS), organizers of the Australian Sports Tech Week https://sportstechweek.com with Hackathon, Innovation Masterclass, Partner Workshops, Sports Tech Startup Day, Australia Sports Tech Conference and plenty of networking opportunities.
November 2019 Inaugural ANZSTA https://anzsta.com.au/
February 2020 ASTN and Varcis Group form partnership for market entry in Asia
June 2020 Natalie Cook OLY (Executive Director "Elite Success and Partnerships" Queensland Academy of Sport) Appointed to the ASTN Board. ASTN QLD Node established.
July 2020 ASTN and GSIC powered by Microsoft start the ASTN-GSIC pre-accelerator program with cohort 1 commencing live-online in September 2020 supported by Pitcher Partners (Finance), Madgwicks (Lawyers), M&J Creative (Marketing), Sports Tech World Series (Market Research and Validation) and VARCIS Group Ltd (Investment and Asia Market Entry Partner)
July 2020 Appointment of Cameron O'Riordan (Director od Sales and Marketing at Game Day Sports) to the ASTN Board of Directors. ASTN NSW Node.
November 2020 Varcis-GSIC-ASTN announce program delivery partnership for Asia. Appointment of Natalie Cook OLY and Cameron O'Riordan as QLD and NSW State Node representatives to ASTN board
December 2020 LaunchVic announces refunding agreement for ASTN accelerator program and new open innovation pathway collaborating with the 'father of open innovation', Prof. Henry Chesbrough, UC Berkeley (see https://www.astn.com.au/open-innovation)
April 2021 ASTN host first Masterclass in Open Innovation with the Father of Open Innovation, Prof Henry Chesbrough UC Berkeley (USA)
September 2021 ASTN and Queensland Government (Department of Tourism, Innovation and Sport) mentoring program commences
September 2021 ASTN receives a AUD$4m grant from Victorian Government to establish and manage the Australian Sports Innovation Center of Excellence (ASICE) https://www.astn.com.au/asice-centre.
October 2021 ASTN appoints Industry Advisory Council to the Australian Sports Innovation Centre of Excellence (ASICE) https://www.astn.com.au/press-release/astn-to-establish-advisory-council-for-new-innovation-centre
November 2021 ASTN and Exercise & Sports Science Australia (ESSA) announce the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) https://www.astn.com.au/press-release/tech-entrepreneurs-and-sport-science-professionals-unite-to-drive-innovation
January 2022 ASTN announces two key appointments: Cam Vale steps into the role of General Manager Operations and Hayley Priestnall as Member & Office Manager https://www.astn.com.au/press-release/astn-powers-sports-innovation-with-new-appointments
February 2022 A new partnership between ASTN and Sports Technology focused global investment firm, XT Ventures, will support young Australian entrepreneurs take their product to the world stage https://www.astn.com.au/press-release/astn-and-xt-ventures-collaboration-marks-significant-step-for-sportstech-in-australia
March 2022 Sportradar (Nasdaq:SRAD), the leading global sports technology company creating immersive experiences for sports fans, announce a two-year partnership with ASTN to facilitate growth in sports technology https://www.astn.com.au/press-release/astn-and-sportradar-join-forces-to-accelerate-australian-inspired-sports-technologies
March 2022 ASTN celebrates the offical opening of the Australian Sports Innovation Centre of Excellence (ASICE) https://www.astn.com.au/press-release/victoria-home-to-new-super-cluster-of-sport-innovation
May 2022 Melbourne Renegades and ASTN agree on Open Innovation Collaboration https://www.astn.com.au/press-release/astn-and-melbourne-renegades-launch-open-innovation-challenge-pitch-to-the-renegades
July 2022 ASTN celebrates its 10-year anniversary https://www.astn.com.au/insights/celebrating-10-years-of-astn
September 2022 ASTN announces changes to its executive leadership team with Founding Chair, James Demetriou taking a back seat
November 2022 ASTN Board Member, John Persico is selected as one of the industry representatives to serve on the National Sport Research Agenda (NSRA) advisory group https://www.clearinghouseforsport.gov.au/nsra/advisory
March 2023 ASTN facilitates excursion to the US visiting MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference in Boston (March 3rd - 4th 2023) and the Sports Business Journal (SBJ) Tech Week in New York City (March 7th - 9th 2023).
May 2023 ASTN releases second Sports Innovation Report https://www.astn.com.au/press-release/new-report-reveals-australia-s-sportstech-sector-is-now-worth-a-4-25-billion
June 2023 ASTN facilitates European Trade Mission to France, Switzerland, Germany and Belgium.
July 2023 ASTN commences Early-Stage Mentoring and sportstech sector engagement program in Western Australia supported through WA X-Tend Grant; Advance Queensland awards ASTN funding to deliver its early-stage program to female founders in Queensland.
July 2023 ASTN announces changes to its board of directors with founding Chair, James Demetriou retiring.
August 2023 Collaboration with CSIRO and Data61 delivers 'AI in Sport' Online Masterclass as part of Digital Innovation Festival in Victoria and supported by the Department of Tourism, Innovation and Sport (DTIS) in Queensland.
October 2023 ASTN releases inaugural University Collaboration Report.
November 2023 ASTN collaborates with Cremorne Digital Hub in delivering third ASTN Masterclass in Open Innovation.
December 2023 ASTN celebrates 70th episode of its podcast 'Sport's Cutting Edge' and continues publishing 'Sportstech & Member News' daily.
March 2024 ASTN successfully facilitates another US Excursion with member companies and ASTN attending MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference in Boston MA and SBJ Sport Tech Week in New York City. Austrade and ASTN collaborate with the State Trade Agencies to deliver a US Sportstech Market Entry workshop at the Australian Consulate General.
March 2024 ASTN and member companies participate in SportNXT 2024 in Melbourne.
March 2024 Nikita Vogel joins the ASTN team in the new role of Queensland Manager and the ASTN announcement outlines board changes.
April 2024 ASTN continues supporting the Sports Commission's National Sports Research Agenda (NSRA) by participating as an industry representative of the Advisory Group.
April 2024 City of Melbourne and ASTN facilitate a roundtable discussion with ASTN members to indentify economic opportunities for the sportstech sector.
May 2024 ASTN launches Venture Capital Partner Network alongside Gandel Invest as the inaugural partner.
June 2024 ASTN expands Venture Capital Partner Network by signing Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC) as first institutional investor partner.
July 2024 ASTN releases the third edition of its Sportstech Innovation Report taking a census of the maturing technology sector in Australia.
August and September 2024 ASTN holds sportstech sector briefings in Adelaide, Perth and Brisbane.
October 2024 ASTN supports STWS Sportstech Conference, ANZSTA Awards and facilitates Sportstech Masterclass 'Women-led Design' in Melbourne.
ASTN Founding Chair, James Demetriou and Ex-SponServe founder, Mark Thompson are each awarded the ANZSTA Lifetime Achievement Award.
ASTN supports Cremorne Tech Week by facilitating and moderating the panel discussion “New Fields of Play: Cross-Industry Insights & Innovation in Sportstech”
November 2024 ASTN Open Innovation case study 'Bridging Gaps in Technology Commercialization' presented at World Open Innovation Conference (WOIC 2024) in Berkeley, California (USA).