British triathlete Alistair Brownlee has teamed up with start-up accelerator Nova to support fledgling SportTech innovations.
The twice gold medal-winning triathlete is backing a new sports and wellness start-up programme, which has pledged to invest £1 million through 2021 into the UK’s best early-stage founders.
Successful applicants will receive mentorship, investment, industry contacts and tech development to build and grow their businesses.
Alistair, currently training for this year’s Tokyo Olympics, will participate in the programme webinars, group work sessions and will sit on the investment pitch panel.
He and his team at Brownlee Fitness will continue to work directly with successful founders post-investment alongside the other programme partners including Nova, Leeds Beckett University, Global Sports and Bruntwood.
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The programme, launching later this month, has put out an open call for ‘ambitious founders at a pre-seed stage’.
Applicants will benefit from Nova’s expertise in early–stage technology start–ups combined with Alistair and the supporting partners commercial experience across the sports and wellness industries. Interested parties should apply on the Nova website by the 12th of April.
“The past 12 months have shown the importance of sport, not only for physical fitness but also for mental health and wellbeing too,” said Alistair.
“The tech start–ups I’m excited to see come through the programme are ones removing barriers to exercise, improving access and participation. My ambition is to support innovation that not only makes great business sense but also delivers great health benefits too.”
Nova CEO Andy Davidson added: “We’ve had a really diverse group of applicants so far, everything from fan engagement and rehabilitation devices to eSports training software.
“It’s a really exciting mix of projects that we can’t wait to start working on. We’ve been able to bring together a really talented team to support these projects to achieve their full potential.”
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