New technology from startup ventures is transforming the sports industry. The mission of this series will be to introduce startup companies in the sports technology space to a broader audience and allow Founders of promising new ventures to tell their story. Feel free to contact us if you know of a startup that should be considered for this series.
Company: The Sweat Experience
CEO: Marvin Amankwa-Dei
Headquarters: London, England
1. What is your elevator pitch?
The Sweat Experience is an online sports network, where athletes can showcase their journeys and gain support from wider audiences.
2. Problem & Solution
Aspiring professional athletes lack a real support system as they progress in their careers.
The Sweat Experience enables you to showcase your journey as an athlete directly to brands as well as your fans. If you look at the evolution of storytelling about athletes in sports, the main vehicles have been through television via broadcasting and documentaries, newspapers and radio. However, with the world embracing transparency, social media has given athletes the power to make the transition from being talked about to being their own journalist.
The Sweat Experience allows athletes to create a visual history of what they’ve done so far in their careers, through a visual portfolio type profile. It provides the athlete with greater visibility, enabling their entire journey to be accessible to those who they would like to talk to and reach directly.
Through the athletes’ activeID (user profile), they can upload various types of media and are able to share it on other social media platforms.
Fans are able to sign up to the platform as a spectator and track the athletes that they are interested in.
We’ve recently rolled out our web beta to athletes that we have invited. We will be rolling out iOS and Android versions of the platform later on in the year.
3. Market- your target market and the overall market
We are entering the athlete discovery space. The platform is available for aspiring professional athletes from any sport, but we have a predominate focus on those pursuing sports that are less mainstream.
4. Business Model- how do you make money?
We plan to monetise through:
Subscription: Where organisations can have access to and connect with athletes on the platform in different ways. Currently organisations can sign up to be invited to be a user of The Sweat Experience for Organisations once it becomes available.
Advertising: Enabling brands to promote their products, services and events on the platform.
5. Management Team-with titles
Marvin Amankwa-Dei- Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Alex Owusu-Ansah- Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer
Andrew MacDonald- Chief Technology Officer
6. What else do you want the audience to know about your venture?
We’ve added former England International footballer Sol Campbell to our board.
If you were to invite any CEO to dinner who would it be and why?
Nike CEO Mark Parker, because I admire his ability to make the transition from designer to CEO, helping Nike to disrupt itself in order to continue to remain innovative.