Six new companies join AO StartUps | 2 February, 2024 | All News | News and Features | News and Events

Six new early-stage tech companies joined the AO StartUps program, expanding the range of innovative new technology piloted at Australian Open 2024.

The new cohort encompasses startups that support a range of verticals across Tennis Australia’s business including participation, performance, broadcast, event operations and the fan experience.

“Each time we have made the call-out for AO StartUps applications, the interest from the global community has exceeded our expectations,” Tennis Australia Head of Innovation Dr Machar Reid said.

“This latest intake expands the AO StartUps portfolio to 20 companies and ensures we remain at the forefront of adopting new technology and continually pushing the boundaries to improve all aspects of our events and the sport of tennis.

“Our ongoing mission is to uncover the best ideas across early-stage sport tech companies and provide an incredible opportunity for them to be part of the biggest global sports and entertainment event in January.”

The 2024 AO StartUps portfolio includes:

• BatFast (UK): patented technology using data, AR, machine learning and robotics to re-engineer how sports are played.
• 1080 Motion (Sweden): the global market leader in creating user friendly solutions for digital motorised training in elite sports.
• Pendular (Spain): AI-driven, sports highlights generation platform offering automated dynamic cropping.
• Camb.ai (US): pioneers hyper-realistic AI dubbing and translation with its state-of-the-art AI models
• Prism Neuro (Australia): new technology for measuring human movement control to identify future athletic stars, optimise performance, and monitor recovery
• UDU (Denmark): developed the world’s first spatial controller for mobile gaming that lets you touch, feel and control games like never before.

AO StartUps is led by the Tennis Australia Innovation team and follows the launch of Tennis Australia’s Venture Capital fund, Wildcard Ventures, and its multi-year partnership with global accelerator powerhouse, Techstars.

BatFast

BatFast re-engineers how people play sport. With data and patented technology, they’ve made sports more accessible for beginners and aspiring professionals alike – whether you’re there to play, compete, or improve.

The BatFast technology was used at AO24 as part of an activation to get kids involved in coloured ball competitions