Barcelona rides the 'sportstech' wave

"Sport is no longer what it used to be". This is one of the most repeated phrases by many sports lovers (whether competitive or amateur) due to the rapid transformation that many physical exercise disciplines have undergone in recent years. And it is that, despite being tinged with a certain degree of melancholy (especially for the most purists), it cannot be denied that the change is more palpable than ever. Sport has changed, and a lot, especially regarding technological advancement. But not all changes are negative, far from it.

Thanks to the latest innovations, today we can monitor the health status of athletes in real-time, guarantee better safety conditions in high-risk sports, or facilitate access to sports practice for people with some type of physical or mental limitation.

"Technology has allowed an unprecedented qualitative leap in the world of sport, both in the recreational and professional sectors," says the founder of TICC, Sergi Páez, a startup that manufactures smart helmets to improve safety in urban mobility.

Following in the wake of an innovative city and already positioned as one of the references in innovation and digitalization at a European level, Barcelona has also wanted to join the technological development in the sports field through the Barcelona Sports Tech Hub program. The macro-project has a program to support the creation of sports and technology startups that started last July, a future sportstech startup incubator in the Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium at the end of 2022, and headquarters that are expected to be located in the Montjuïc Sports Palace starting in 2023. "The objective is to promote technology applied to both sport and electronic sports and generate quality jobs," says Xavier Dumont, head of entrepreneurship services at Barcelona Activa.

The startup support program consists of accompanying 12 startups dedicated to technological development linked to the world of sport, ranging from motion sensors to improve safety in urban mobility, 3D printed climbing shoes, or training schools based on microlearning. "We have already been in the program for several weeks, and the advice and training we have received have been excellent," explains Javier Beltran, CEO of Rockfit, one of the selected startups.

The program consists of weekly training capsules and access to mentors and advisors for six months, as well as the possibility of using the Incubadora Almogàvers coworking from September. Rockfit, a sportech startup dedicated to creating adventure games for practicing sports through artificial intelligence, is already beginning to reap its rewards after closing an agreement with UNIR (International University of La Rioja) to develop the artificial intelligence algorithm used by the company. According to Dumont, once the six months are over, a prize of 10,000 euros will be awarded to the best startup after deliberation by the jury.

Beltran explains to The New Barcelona Post that he moved to the Catalan capital looking for greater ease in launching innovative projects. "I came from Madrid to continue with the project because in Barcelona it is easier for a groundbreaking company to succeed, especially in the technological ecosystem. Culturally, there is a greater predisposition to try new things," concludes its founder.

One of the main challenges facing the city is attracting funding. Despite ranking third as the most popular European hub for creating a startup, according to the Startup Heatmap Europe 2021, the investment it receives in the sportstech sector is not directly proportional. The recent European Sportstech Report 2021 places Barcelona in 38th place in terms of attracting investments in a list headed by London (73.4 million euros), Stockholm (63.6 million), and Berlin (55.6 million).

According to the publication, the subsectors that dominated the European investment landscape in 2020 were fitness, consumer content, and esports. By companies, the ranking is led by the Swedish G-Loot (51 million euros), dedicated to eSports; closely followed by One Football (50 million), a German football content platform, and in third place Minute Media, a British company specializing in all types of sports content.

From Indescat (Catalan sports cluster) they also value the news very positively, considering it a very good opportunity to position Barcelona as a reference in the international panorama. "We have the necessary tools to create wealth, opportunities and improve the competitiveness of the sector. Sports companies need an environment where innovation, startups, technology, large corporations, entrepreneurs, investment and talent come together," concludes its president, Anna Pruna.