The inaugural roster for the Dodgers’ Accelerator program includes a diverse portfolio of sports tech firms, ranging from a social platform for managing local sports leagues to a software company promising to improve tracking and analyzing data from wearables.
The firms are in different stages of maturity, but all 10 companies will be looking for a victory as they wind up the Accelerator experience, culminating Nov. 10 at Dodger Stadium. The founders must deliver a successful pitch to some 300 investors and sports business and media executives to see whether they can literally get their ideas across home plate.
Several founders of the Dodgers’ Accelerator companies discussed the program in exclusive interviews with SportsBusiness Journal.
Appetize seeks to enhance fan experiences at games, music venues and anywhere there’s a crowd trying to park or eat. The 4-year-old company says it is already profitable. Kevin Anderson, co-founder and vice president of business development, says Appetize this year will increase total revenue ninefold over last year.
Companies targeted for investment by the Dodgers’ Accelerator program
■ APPETIZE — Point-of-sale, mobile ordering and inventory management system for live events.
■ DOORSTAT — Proprietary technology solution for understanding foot traffic, customer demographics and customer behavior.
■ FIELDLEVEL — Private social network for sports recruiting.
■ FOCUSMOTION — Analysis of data generated through wearable technology.
■ KINDUCT — Software solutions for measuring health, fitness and human performance.
■ LEAGUEAPPS — Software platform for local sports organizers.
■ PRODAY — Mobile application aiding training for professional athletes.
■ SIDEPRIZE — Product for facilitating side challenges in fantasy sports leagues.
■ SWISH ANALYTICS — Algorithmic and prediction tools for daily fantasy sports players.
■ YEZNO — Polling and debating for sports fans.
The app allows Eagles, Knicks, Rangers and Seahawks fans to order food in game for pickup or delivery from their seats. Live Nation is a customer, and the app has been tested at Dodgers Stadium.
Anderson says the mentor program has been a highlight.
“I met with [Los Angeles Lakers President] Jeanie Buss for half an hour, and that conversation is continuing afterwards about possibly working with the Lakers,” he said.
Meanwhile, Swish Analytics is hoping its predictive analytics data platform will score with investors.
Co-founder Bobby Skoff says the firm’s consumer-facing 9-month-old, Web-based subscription services for betting and daily fantasy gives users an advantage. That’s because it uses advanced analytics to eliminate human biases in predicting every stat for every player in every NFL, MLB, and NBA game.
Skoff says the Accelerator program offers “unparalleled access we wouldn’t have got otherwise. … Being plugged into a network of sports executives, and people inside the industry — media, on the league level, team level — with the knowledge of the challenges we would face.”
FieldLevel is a private social network for recruiting that’s used by athletes and college and high school coaches. Kai Sato, co-founder and president of the 7-year-old firm, says FieldLevel doesn’t need cash, but is focused on signing larger deals and partnerships: “We’ve proven our core business. … [Our participation] is about interacting with the Yahoos and Foxes of the world, the Under Armours, Nikes and Gatorades.”
Dr. Travis McDonough, founder and CEO of Kinduct, is the senior member of the Accelerator contingent at 44 years old. His Canada-based company makes software aimed at helping professional sports teams and health care facilities improve health and prevent injury.
“We help professional sports teams understand the science of winning through injury prevention and sports enhancement,” he asserts. “We take third-party tracking data from wearables and other sources and pull it into one location, stack the data and look for trends, correlations and relationships that have never been able to be seen before.”
He says this runs from spotting tissue damage before a tear to poor NBA free throw shooting due to lack of sleep.
McDonough wouldn’t divulge his client list, but said Kinduct has 50 professional sports clients.
