Indianapolis officials have sought to be a leader in the sports tech sector since the very emergence of sports-specific technology.
And why not? Long billed as a sports capital, the Circle City seems well positioned for such a quest. Problem is, much of the nation’s technology development has traditionally been done on the coasts. That didn’t keep city and state leaders from going for it. After all, this is the same city and state that built an NFL-ready domed stadium without a team.
So, an aggressive approach was begun more than six years ago. And it appears to be paying dividends.
An initiative started by Indiana Pacers’ and Indiana Sports Corp.’s top brass provided the spark for the local sports-tech movement. The movement brought together some of the biggest players in local sports and technology, including Pacers co-owner Steve Simon and President Rick Fuson along with tech maestro Scott Dorsey, who co-founded marketing tech firm ExactTarget and served as Indiana Sports Corp. chairman from 2013 to 2019.
The first big building block in the sports-tech effort was laid in 2018 when the local coalition signed a deal with Techstars to locate the nation’s first sports-tech accelerator in Indianapolis.
Boulder, Colorado-based Techstars pledged to locate Techstars Sports Accelerator Powered by Indy here for three years starting in 2019. Indianapolis beat out a handful of much larger cities for the accelerator, which has outlived the initial deal.
An arm of the Indiana Economic Development Corp., Sports Tech HQ Inc. – a nonprofit organization dedicated to building a strong sports tech ecosystem in Indiana – opened in June 2022 and has been increasing its visibility through events, programming, incentives and site tours.
At first, the gains were relatively small.
Alabama-based Tennibot, which was a member of Techstars’ 2020 cohort, announced in 2021 it was opening an Indianapolis office and will eventually make Indianapolis its headquarters.
That same year, New York-based Beastcoast, a professional e-sports team and digital media company that was a member of the 2020 cohort, established a training site here.
Over the years, the initiative has gained momentum and the payout has become bigger.
For instance, last summer Flexia, a California-based startup that created a smart Pilates machine, earned support from Indiana’s TechStars Sports Accelerator and announced plans to manufacture the product in Indiana.
Last month, Sports Tech HQ announced that Chicago-based tech startup Ganance has selected Indiana for its expanded operations. The decision comes following Ganance’s participation in the 2023 class of Techstars Sports Accelerator powered by Indy, an immersive 13-week program focused on the development of emerging tech companies.
In a separate announcement in late December, California-based tech startup Edge Sound Research announced that it plans to establish an Indiana presence – which paves the way for the company to unlock an investment of up to $500,000 from Indiana-based Elevate Ventures.
Edge was one of five start-ups to win Elevate’s inaugural IN-Prize pitch competition, which was part of the Rally innovation conference in August. As winners, all five of the start-ups, three from California and one from Kentucky and another from Massachusetts, became eligible for up to $500,000 in matching funds from Elevate Ventures.
To claim the money, the companies must agree to establish a “significant” presence in Indiana for at least a year. Edge is the first of the five to commit to take that step.
Indiana and Indianapolis are not just gaining new companies, but some impactful boosters as well that could be critical to selling this region as a sports tech destination to others.
“Sports Tech HQ has been an incredible partner for us in Indianapolis,” notes Alex Ocampo, Ganance CEO and founder. “The introductions they made, alongside a community dedicated to innovation, have opened up many new opportunities for our company across the business and university landscape. We’re excited to keep working with Sports Tech HQ as we continue building in Indianapolis.”
The movement is gaining momentum in part because it has a strong combination of the right people and infrastructure as its backbone.
Ganance will have a physical location and staff at the Emerging Manufacturing Collaborative Center (EMC2), a new smart manufacturing hub to support the long-term growth of the state’s manufacturing industry. Located at the 16 Tech Innovation District on the west edge of downtown Indianapolis, this facility will allow innovators, start-ups and manufacturers to advance research and development and 21st century skills training in smart manufacturing.
“We are deeply committed to enhancing the sports tech ecosystem in Indiana and supporting transformative companies,” says Jeffrey Hintz, executive director of Sports Tech HQ. “We’re thrilled to add (Ganance) to the growing list of world-class sports leaders and tech innovators that call Indiana home.”
The bigger prize may be coming. State officials plan to aggressively pursue a sizable slice of the sports-tech industry valued at nearly $13.5 billion globally and projected to grow to $74 billion by 2030, according to a report from San Francisco-based Grand View Research.
Local officials aren’t hiding their intentions. Hintz says this movement is about always having eyes on the playing field to identify which established or start-up tech companies are out there and which ones should be targets for the state to pursue.
“This is all really about building on our existing sports ecosystem,” he concludes.
Adam H. Berry is vice president of economic development and technology at the Indiana Chamber of Commerce. H
e joined the organization in 2019.
