When German former tennis pro Maik Burlage hatched an idea to transform ordinary tennis courts into smart courts, he knew he needed help and guidance. So Burlage and his tech startup teammates applied to an accelerator program called leAD.
The leAD Sports Accelerator is an industry-leading sports entrepreneurial platform that provides startups access to business minds, experts and top investors to help shape ideas. The legacy of Adi Dassler (leAD) was created by the grandchildren of Adidas’ founder to further the passion their grandfather had for sports and innovation. By working with leAD, entrepreneurs receive guidance toward taking their ideas and becoming innovative and sustainable businesses.
This year, leAD will select 10 start-ups from around the world to receive 12 weeks of training in business, leadership and best practices for pitching business plans to investors. Last year’s three-month cohort included more than 30 workshops, training sessions and ongoing weekly one-on-one sessions with leAD team members. The deadline for the leAD Class of 2018 is May 31.
Burlage’s company, Wingfield GmbH, was one of 15 teams admitted to last year’s class. Wingfield’s idea was to offer smart-court technology that allows tennis players to access their own match statistics on their smartphone. The data is collected using a pair of on-site HD cameras, and the system runs much cheaper than other more elaborate setups (which cost in the neighborhood of $35,000).
A total of 480 teams applied from 53 different countries in 2017. The notion of using technology to impact tennis and change the sport for the better intrigued the leAD team. Burlage’s group was invited to Berlin last July to take part in three days of live demonstrations alongside 39 other startups.
Of all the time the Wingfield team had spent putting their plan into motion, the three days of competitively pitching their product were the toughest, Burlage said. He and his colleagues made a series of 30 15-minute presentations as they hoped for selection into the full three-month leAD Sports Accelerator program. But being in direct competition with so many startups from two-dozen countries also came with unexpected benefits.
Burlage and his partners found themselves surrounded by fellow entrepreneurs who had built their own business proposals. For every question that Burlage had, one of those fellow startups had encountered similar problems.
“In hindsight, it was one of the best things we could have done,” Burlage, co-founder and CEO of Wingfield GmbH, said. “Not only because we got accepted for the program, but we learned so much over those three days.”
According to Nathalie Sonne, the leAD Sports Accelerator’s head of program, bringing dreamers together is one of the things that makes leAD so unique.
The program prides itself on being an open platform and is driven not by corporate sponsors or venture capitalists, but instead by a collection of private investors and family offices who, like Dassler’s grandchildren, believe in the mission that Dassler put into motion in the mid 20th century. Those investors all have a strong foothold in the sports industry, and have expertise ranging from finance to marketing and everything in between. The objective is to support the visionary innovative strength of young founders who exhibit enthusiastic team spirit.
The 12-week training cohort helps entrepreneurs take their vision to the next level by preparing them for any challenges they may face along the way. The final 10 startups selected will receive €25,000 ($28,900) investment from leAD in exchange for 8 percent equity.
“No matter how high the bar was raised, our grandfather Adi Dassler always found a way to make a clean jump over it,” said leAD Sports Accelerator founder Horst Bente. “Today, we support young innovators with a unique network of mentors, investors and entrepreneurs.”
The leAD class of 2018 will be selected from startups that demonstrate innovative ideas in performance-based technologies that support athletes, next-generation fan engagement and experience technology, and derivative sports markets such as new sports and esports, fantasy sports and sports betting, and marketplace matchmaking.
The knowledge that Burlage gained from the leAD program has proved invaluable. “It really was an exceptional experience,” he said.
The deadline to apply to the class of 2018 is Thursday, May 31. To learn more, visit leadsports.com or apply directly here.