Sir Charles named next Techstars Sports Accelerator Mentor
This program is designed for sports tech companies focused on the future of sport, ranging from new technologies to new business models.
Founding partners of the sports accelerator include Next Level Fund, an investment firm backed by the state of Indiana, the Indiana Sports Corp, the NCAA, and Pacers Sports & Entertainment, which owns the Indiana Pacers and Indiana Fever. Supporting partners include the Indianapolis Colts, the NTT IndyCar Series, and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“To make something like this happen is a testament to the strength of the Indy sports teams and how close and friendly everyone is there,” said Jordan Fliegel, managing director of the Techstars Sports Accelerator. “I don’t think that’d be possible in a city like New York, or LA, or Boston. I don’t see the Celtics and the Patriots, Red Sox, and Bruins all getting together in a super collaborate way with no egos.”
Techstars Sports Accelerator is tapping Sir Charles Hill, Managing Director of Playbook Capital, as their next mentor to provide expertise, strategic advice and direction to top tier startups that could potentially become game changers in the sports industry. Playbook Capital was started with the idea of helping to build generational wealth to 2nd and 3rd tier athletes that initially fledged from underprivileged communities looking to invest their money into mission-driven deals.
According to Techstars co-CEO David Brown, the sports accelerator will select companies in potential areas such as fan participation, athlete safety, ticketing, merchandising, athlete performance management, and athlete wellness. Fliegel noted that other possible areas of interest include sports betting and fantasy sports.
Fiegel will take a “founder friendly” approach to developing the Techstars Sports Accelerator, and said he doesn’t view himself as a venture capitalist. “I think the way to drive the best returns is to actually try to help the founders and be really supportive of them on their journey. I think it’s hard to really help founders if you haven’t been a founder and can’t empathize with them and really understand the challenges they’re facing.”
