Fever pitch for sports innovators

Start-up businesses with great ideas are invited to join a Sports Innovation (SPIN) Final to mark the UEFA Champions League Final in Cardiff next month.

Cardiff University is partnering HYPE Foundation to deliver an exhibition and competition in the run-up to the 3 June event.

HYPE Foundation, a global platform connecting and investing in sports innovation, will work with the University and a panel of expert judges to crown the most innovative sports start-up, leading to PR exposure and the chance to make an impact in the world of sport.

The event takes place on 2 June – the day before the UEFA Champions League Final – at Cardiff Business School’s Postgraduate Teaching Centre, just a mile from the National Stadium of Wales.

Start-up businesses who wish to join have just two days to sign up. Registration for the event will close at 23:59 on 9 May 2017.

The event brings together students, businesses and sports companies for a two-day festival of sports innovation.

The HYPE SPIN final will see 10 companies pitch their sports innovations to leading figures from top sports and tech brands, investors and academia. The jury will include: Laura McAllister CBE, Professor of Public Policy at Cardiff University’s Wales Governance Centre; Bernd Wahler, Ex-Adidas CMO and VfB Stuttgart President; Ignacio Mestre, CEO of the FC Barcelona Foundation; Guy Laurent Epstein, UEFA Marketing Director; and Sébastien Audoux, Head of Sports Digital Contents at Canal+.

HYPE Foundation’s CEO, Amir Raveh noted: "HYPE Foundation is excited to hold an Innovation in Sports competition alongside the UEFA Champions League, giving the startups included unparalleled exposure."

Professor Hywel Thomas, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Research, Innovation and Engagement at Cardiff University, said: “We are the Home of Innovation. We have a long track record of turning student ideas into thriving businesses – and our alumni are among Britain’s sporting elite.”

“Recent data shows the University grew its collaborative research funding by £13.3m last year - the largest increase in the UK. And Cardiff now ranks 2nd in the Russell Group of research-intensive UK universities for IP income – generating the vast majority of IP income among Welsh HEIs.”