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Accelerate Ventures is delighted to announce its investment in PlayerData, a company revolutionising performance tracking for sports teams. To date, the majority of the sports world has been priced out of performance tracking technology; the average customer spend with Catapult Sports is nearly $25,000 a year. Such a sum is not affordable to 99% of the sports ecosystem. PlayerData is delivering high-quality, affordable, and user-friendly performance tracking technology. Their and our belief is that they are best-placed to provide the tools to this underserved market at an affordable price.

Addressing a Significant Market Gap

Performance tracking has become essential for elite sports, offering insights that enhance performance, prevent injuries, and optimise training. However, these solutions have remained out of reach for amateur, youth and semi-professional teams due to high costs and complex interfaces often requiring specialised expertise.

As a result, only a tiny portion of the sports team market currently has access to performance tracking; the current number of teams using performance tracking is in the low thousands. However, industry research suggests there are 20,000 professional teams globally; there are roughly an extra 8.7 million sports teams, of which potentially 160,000 could be counted as “prosumer”, with the means and desire to invest in such technology. Hence, we believe there is a market of over 10 million athletes that PlayerData has the means to target in its next few years of operations.

PlayerData identified this gap and developed a solution that is both affordable and intuitive, making it ideal for teams without access to full-time sports scientists. As CEO Roy Hotrabhvanon puts it, “Our mission is to empower every team with the tools they need to succeed. We believe world-class technology shouldn’t just be for the top 1%.”

Why PlayerData Stands Out

PlayerData’s product meets FIFA standards, ensuring it matches or exceeds the quality of more expensive competitors. It is designed for simplicity, enabling teams to integrate it seamlessly into their workflows. Beyond its innovative product, PlayerData provides outstanding customer support, ensuring teams can fully leverage the technology. The company’s focus on affordability and ease of use addresses the barriers that have historically kept most teams from adopting performance tracking.

PlayerData’s user interface

The company’s talented sales team is driving adoption in key markets, including the U.S., where the amateur and semi-professional sports market is particularly vibrant. As Nick Ford, Strategy Director at Accelerate Ventures, notes, “We invest in companies that solve real problems with scalable solutions, and PlayerData exemplifies this. Their customer-oriented approach and talented team puts them in prime position to reshape the way teams of all levels track performance and drive results”.

Looking Ahead

At Accelerate, we are proud to invest in Roy Hotrabhvanon and the team at PlayerData as they transform how all sports teams operate. The team is positioned to continue on the rapid growth trajectory they have executed to date. Additionally, PlayerData is building an exciting product development roadmap that we believe can unlock new markets, solving some of the sports industry’s key problems. Their vision and execution align perfectly with our mission to back companies that redefine the sports industry, and we are excited to support their continued growth.