When you suppose of Comcast, you in all probability consider the cable or web service, however it’s additionally part of NBCUniversal. With that comes a good bit of sports activities protection together with the Olympics, NASCAR, WWE and PGA, to call just a few. As such, Comcast has some motivation to drive innovation in how sports activities are coated and consumed.
In 2020, the corporate determined it wanted a car to help startups that had been attempting to convey disruptive know-how associated to sports activities. The Comcast NBCUniveral SportsTech Accelerator was born with a imaginative and prescient of discovering startups that will convey some innovation to their sports activities league companions, whereas giving the startups entry to Comcast’s media experience and the leagues themselves.
This 12 months the accelerator welcomed 10 corporations to its 2023 cohort; its third class. Unlike a variety of accelerators, this one isn’t in search of absolute novices. Instead, it needs corporations which have already constructed a product and are working with clients. Comcast works with the businesses all through the six-month interval introducing them to their companions and serving to them develop, however the corporations proceed to function as regular.
Comcast invests $50,000 into every firm in return for stocky fairness. Jenna Kurath, VP of startup partnerships and head of Comcast NBCU SportsTech, admits it’s a nominal amount of cash, designed largely to cowl bills associated to collaborating within the accelerator. But she says the funding sends an necessary message to their cohort members.
“It’s really about us having skin in the game and in their success for one, but I think the other big important piece of that is that’s typically stock you would reserve for bringing on a strategic adviser,” Kurath advised TechCrunch+. “But in this case, you’re bringing on multiple strategic advisers from different sports teams and leagues and types of sports.”
The firm additionally has a sister accelerator, known as Comcast NBCU LiftLabs, which is a six-week program centered on enterprise AI corporations.