2024 Recap: Linking local sportstech innovation to the global ecosystem
This year has been all about ‘connecting the dots’ for our members and partners. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the ASTN team for their continued passion and expertise in the sector to foster collaboration and support the growth of the sector. And we look forward to continuing to build on this momentum in 2025.
We successfully supported and mentored over 30 early-stage founders and growth-stage entrepreneurs in 2024. And in total since our first inception, ASTN has supported more than 150 early-stage and 70 growth-stage startups combined through dedicated programs and activities.
This year has not only marked a substantial milestone for ASTN, but for the industry as well. The sportstech landscape has continued to evolve significantly. Not only have we seen more advanced and innovative technologies since we were first founded in 2012, but the sector has reached a stage where it’s contributing significantly to the economy and employment in Australia.
The maturing sportstech sector is becoming increasingly attractive to investors and stakeholders. We believe this is a brand-new chapter for the industry as it continues to show incredible resilience and adaptability in a rapidly evolving market.
Leadership restructure to fuel growth and innovation
Key to our success this year has been the strategic changes made to our leadership team and Board of Directors. We welcomed Lisa Hasker and Ron Gauci from the ASICE Advisory Council to the Board. Amy Crosland stepped up as Chief Operating Officer, and is now focusing on business development and operations, while Cam Vale transitioned to Chief Financial Officer to manage financial operations and special projects. Nikita Vogel joined as Queensland Manager, bringing over six years of experience in sports and technology startups to drive ASTN's Queensland initiatives. All of these changes aligned with our wider strategic goals to foster innovation, improve impact, and drive sustainable growth in the sportstech sector.
Brisbane 2032 Elevate recognises sportstech as key to the future economy
Another key milestone for us this year has been the Elevate 2042 document, which outlines a 20-year vision for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games and recognised sportstech as a vital part of the "economy of the future."
This is valuable for the sector because we believe that Brisbane 2032 will provide local innovators, entrepreneurs, startups and scaleups with the opportunity to be hoisted on the global stage. It’s a unique chance for Australia to further cement itself as one of the world’s most advanced sportstech ecosystems.
Driving impact through strategic partnerships
2024 has been a big year for valuable long-lasting strategic partnerships. In June 2024, we announced a new early and growth-stage accelerator program for Queensland startups backed by the Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC). Out of a group of 40 QLD sportstech startups, 10 will be placed into investment-ready shape through a series of entrepreneurial programs.
We also launched the ‘Sportstech Gold Coast Growth Plan’ in partnership with the City of Gold Coast to help strengthen the region’s rapidly growing sportstech ecosystem and facilitate knowledge transfer with the region’s adjacent sectors, like healthtech, as well as the event and entertainment sector.
Forging these agreements further supports a rapidly growing sportstech cluster along Australia’s eastern seaboard. ASTN’s partnership with the City of Gold Coast and QIC mark important milestones for bolstering Queensland’s sportstech ecosystem as the country prepares to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2032.
In July we also announced the Western Australia Government’s extension to develop and promote the WA sportstech and innovation industry in Western Australia, which includes a follow-on grant for a second year under the X-TEND WA Program. As part of this collaboration, we have hosted several key events, programs and activities under this partnership.
Ongoing partnerships like these are crucial for accelerating industry innovation, fostering collaboration, and supporting the growth of Australia’s sportstech sector. By rolling out complementary strategies and programs across our states, we can continue to capitalise on the growth we are seeing and further bolster the local sportstech ecosystem in the lead up to Brisbane 2032 and beyond.
2024 Industry report: An industry now worth $4.69 billion
This year we launched ASTN’s third annual Sports Innovation Report at our annual member event at Launchpad in Melbourne – revealing that Australia's sportstech sector is transitioning from growth to maturity stage. This change is highlighted by market consolidation, increasing interest from sophisticated investors and the widespread adoption of technologies across the sports sector.
Despite for the first time accounting for company closures, ASTN's sector appraisal indicates positive trends with industry revenue and employment both rising by over 10% in 2024. Our research shows that the sportstech sector now generates A$4.69 billion in annual revenue, employing 14,906 people.
Our annual report highlights that the local sportstech sector's contribution to the Australian economy is substantial and undeniably a fundamental part of our sports ecosystem, representing approximately 12% of the Australian sports industry, valued at A$40 billion.
ASTN launches Venture Capital Partner Network to fuel sportstech growth
To foster greater connections between VC firms and thriving sportstech startups – ASTN launched its Venture Capital Partner network this year, signing Gandel Invest as the inaugural partner.
ASTN’s VC Partner Network is an industry first, offering VC firms access to sportstech startups with technologies that are primed for scaling and commercialisation, thereby facilitating robust deal flow.
We predict that the active investor community servicing early-stage sports technology companies will continue to grow over the next few years. In our view, we feel that the conditions are perfect for VC firms to benefit from Australia’s rich entrepreneurial talent pool.
Celebrating women who are shaping the future of sports innovation
This year we continued our work of celebrating Australia’s leading women at the intersection of sports and technology that are shaping the future of sports innovation. In July we released the second edition of the ‘Women in Sports Innovation’ report, recognising the outstanding contributions of over 100 emerging and established leaders in sports innovation.
As part of Sports Innovation Week, we hosted a unique showcase event ‘Women-Led Design’, featuring eight women founders that are transforming the sports landscape. These women are not only propelling Australian sports onto the global stage but also helping to drive much-needed diversity and inclusion within the sector. Being a major supporter of the STWS Conference also included support for the ANZSTA Awards, providing for investor pitching session, member showcase exhibitions and exhibiting at the conference.
We’ve still got a long way to go, but in the past 12 months we have witnessed significant progress – with more than twelve per cent of women founders or co-founders participating in ASTN programs. In fact, our most recent cohorts of our early-stage accelerator programs have had a 50:50 gender split.
Achieving this has involved a deliberate approach to engaging and inviting women into the industry to help start to bridge this gender gap. For 2025, we will continue to make it our priority to reach our goal for 30 per cent of sportstech firms to be women led or co-founded.
We also believe that securing funding and investment is a critical aspect of entrepreneurial success, and this will be a further focal point of ASTN’s initiatives for bridging the gender gap. We believe that by actively backing women founders, investors are not only supporting individual businesses but are also unlocking new opportunities for innovation.
Industry advocacy and support to drive progress
At the heart of what we do at ASTN is passionately advocate for Australian-inspired sports technologies. To do this, we support the wider sportstech industry tirelessly through advocacy and leadership. From promoting the value of Aussie sports technologies, to advocating for greater investment, identifying economic opportunities, hosting trade missions and excursions and providing mentorship, 2024 has been an action-packed year – with many opportunities to bring together experts and leaders to showcase talent and help accelerate the industry.
A few highlights include, supporting the City of Melbourne to facilitate a roundtable discussion about the economic opportunities for the sportstech sector; supporting Cremorne Tech Week with member exhibits and panel discussion; masterclasses on various topics including stadium technology and continuing our AI in sportstech series.
By facilitating trade missions and excursions we help to bridge the local sportstech community with global opportunities. Through initiatives like the March excursion to the USA with attendance at the MIT Sports Analytics Conference and SBJ Sportstech Week, and the Global Victoria Trade Mission to the Middle East, we can continue to foster global connection and expand the reach of Australia’s sportstech businesses.
This year, Amy Crosland also facilitated the Asia engagement with ASTN representation in Taiwan and our collaboration with other sportstech innovation ecosystems. Furthermore, Cam Vale supported the Global Victoria trade mission to the Middle East and continues to drive our Australia-India engagement. Just recently, I had the honour of presenting at Sports Tech Nation and ISPO in Germany where collaboration with our long-standing program partner GSIC (Spain and Singapore) was extended and a new relationship with SportechFR (France) was formed.
Injecting innovative thinking through open innovation
Very recently we announced our collaboration with National Rugby League (NRL) and Advance Queensland (AQ) giving Queensland-based sportstech startups the chance to pitch their innovative tech ideas to the NRL to solve some of their biggest challenges.
ASTN will facilitate the program in 2025, working closely with the startups and the NRL to help pilot their ideas and solutions. We've facilitated similar open innovation challenges in the past like the ‘Pitch to the Renegades’, and we believe it’s a great way to bring sportstech startups and existing organisations together to solve complex challenges.
As we now truly have established a track record as an ‘innovation intermediary’, we look forward to working with other sports in similar opportunities. Various open innovation projects were highlighted as case studies during the World Open Innovation Conference in Silicon Valley showcasing first-hand how access to the ASTN platform can inject innovative thinking and drive technological advancements where sports do not have internal resources to do so.
Our mission: continue building the world’s leading sportstech ecosystem
Brisbane 2032 Olympics and other major sporting events, along with significant sports infrastructure investments, are expected to drive further growth and innovation in the sector over the next eight years and beyond. This also extends to attracting further inbound investment from technology companies planning to enter the Australian market for sportstech.
We predict that the sportstech sector in Australia as well as globally will reach even greater maturity in 2025 as we see even greater market consolidation and widespread adoption of new technologies. We are ready to help support our talented network of Aussie-inspired businesses to make their mark and help shape the future of sports innovation. We look forward to continuing to work with our community in 2025 to help move the needle, and position Australia as one of the world’s leading sportstech ecosystems reaching to LA 2028, Brisbane 2032 and beyond.