SBJ Power Up: Boosting AI’s potential impact in women’s sports

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Sports Innovation Lab launches AI program

Data firm Sports Innovation Lab gathered dozens of industry professionals last week in New York City for the first training session of a program called “AI Advantage,” SBJ’s Rob Schaefer reports.

The program is being administered in partnership with Microsoft, with the kick-off event hosted at the Microsoft Garage in SoHo (and available to virtual participants). Its aim is to provide industry leaders with hands-on experience using AI tools relevant to both their job functions and innovation on the horizon.

Sports Innovation Lab bills AI Advantage as women’s-sports focused in both its content and attendees. Walker said the program’s first 50 seats were reserved for women’s sports executives, and that professionals working in and around that segment of the industry will see particular benefits. The latter, according to Sports Innovation Lab Co-Founder & CEO Josh Walker, is because of the potential for AI-generated content -- or AI-facilitated content, in the case of a WSC or Greenfly, which automate distribution processes -- to fill gaps in women’s sports media coverage.

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Hexis is latest sports tech startup backed by Enterprise Ireland

As personalized performance nutrition app Hexis looked to broaden its reach toward an ultimate goal of making inroads within the US market, it first chose to cross another border — to Ireland — by moving its headquarters from London to Dublin, SBJ’s Joe Lemire reports.

Hexis CEO/Co-Founder David Dunne is an Irish native who has spent almost all of his professional career in England, where he also studied for his Ph.D. Moving Hexis HQ wasn’t just about going home, however. It was done in conjunction with an investment from Enterprise Ireland, a government agency that invested in more than 100 startups last year, making them the most active investor by volume in Europe. Hexis received €250,000 in funding on top of last year’s $2 million pre-seed round.

Hop Robotics gets channel boost

Automated self-pouring provider Hop Robotics has entered a strategic partnership with Krowne, a U.S.-based manufacturer of various beverage service components. The collaboration opens a large distribution stream for Hop Robotics, whose founder Grayson Dawson has become the head of robotics for Krowne.

With the move, Krowne is now offering Hop Robotics’ robotic beverage dispensing system called Otto, a brandable unit with a robotic arm that can pour 240 pints per hour with a 98% keg yield. Hop Robotics has deployed its beer-serving kiosks at 75-plus sports and entertainment events, including at the Thunders’ Paycom Center and Charlotte Motor Speedway.