“Wyscout is what it is today thanks to the support received throughout the years, not only in terms of financial aid but also priceless guidance received by mentors and entrepreneurs. Thanks to their advice, Wyscout was able to walk the challenging and difficult paths of global markets.” – Stefano Tambornini, Wylab Director
The football platform, Wyscout aims to provide data of football teams, players and matches to agents, scouts, referees, coaches and players. Featuring player profiles, match analysis, and a pulse on the transfer market, it is used by 500 clubs including Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Paris St-Germain, Juventus, and Arsenal.
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The team that started Wyscout is taking the notion of ‘paying it forward’ to heart and recently opened the doors to Wylab, Italy’s first sports tech incubator. Wylab is currently preparing to launch its first accelerator and incubator program and they are taking a collaboration-first approach in their pilot program, putting an emphasis on education and networking.
In describing the approach Wylab is taking to their incubator program, Tambornini used the phrase ‘contamination is the keyword.’ When asked to expand on that, he said, “We think that contamination among operators coming from different fields – athletes, managers, medical professionals, tech experts – and different sports is the key to delivering the best possible product or service.” He notes that even in the few months they’ve been open they have seen that seemingly common practices in some sports are completely new or not applied in other sports. So Wylab wants to be a place where different sports can meet and share their best practices to help each other improve their performance.
Throughout the selection process for the first incubator, the committee reviewed the 70+ applications based on the team, market dimensions, presence of a competitive advantage, business model and the possible synergies with the Incubator and Wyscout to narrow the pool to the most promising startups.
#Wylab SportsTech Incubator. Thanks to @giomalago @MisterLippi @MaurizioFelugo Any idea? https://t.co/rGOCOYjuCp pic.twitter.com/wqRJOhiBqc
— matteo campodonico (@matte_campo) February 5, 2016
Their applicants included a wide range of products from IoT video analysis, data analysis, and sensors for athletes, to e-commerce, social media, and drone videos. They also came from around the world including France, Azerbaijan, Australia, Argentina and the US and included sports such as soccer, boxing, tennis, volleyball, running and basketball. While the selections haven’t been announced yet, Tambornini told me they were particularly impressed by an app that tracks the set distribution during a volleyball match that allowed for advanced tactical analysis that could be used in real-time and pre-match. Another interesting submission was a platform that applies statistical models to athlete movements to identify the ‘optimal gesture.’
We will provide an update when the final companies in the incubator are announced.
Those who are invited to join the Wylab family will endure a four month acceleration program, during which they receive mentoring to improve their business plan. This is also an opportunity for Wylab to further evaluate the startups and determine which ones will move into the incubation phase.
Once in the incubation phase, the startups will receive mentoring from Wylab’s managers and Wyscout’s partners and founders including Matteo Campodonico, CEO and Founder of Wyscout and Antonio Gozzi, CEO of Duferco Group and Chairman of Vitrus Entella, a football club in the Italian Serie B League. In addition to accessing top sports minds, the startups will also receive credit access and acquisition of equity.
Tambornini explains that they will offer seminars and courses hosted by experts in the industry and successful entrepreneurs as a way to connect these startups with those who have extensive knowledge of the sports tech industry. The education and networking emphasis is further achieved by Wylab being set up as a co-working space where startups and small businesses can easily collaborate. This is where the mantra ‘contamination is the keyword’ comes into play. Programmers, developers, web designers and web agencies work side-by-side with the startups to help them come up with the best possible product.
Over the next year, the startups selected will benefit from these resources and the best of the best will walk away from Demo Day with financing of up to 100,000 euros. It remains to be seen which will be the next Wyscout, but Wylab’s unique approach will certainly allow for innovation in technology to improve athlete performances, team strategies, and the fan experience.
‘Our goal is to become the hub for sports innovation technology in Italy,’ states Tambornini.