Sports Technology is one of the world's fastest growing sectors
Scotland is in pole position
SportsTech Scotland is in the driving seat
Scottish sports technology is on the cusp of something great. With our world class universities, thriving tech ecosystem and nation of sports fanatics, we have the groundworks for a globally competitive sector.
But we're not perfect. Compared with some of the world's top sportstech ecosystems, our companies are not well connected: to the international market, to domestic sports clubs and to other stakeholders in the Scottish sportstech sector.
SportsTech Scotland brings our nation's sports technology stakeholders into the same forum and makes sure they are expending the right resources into the right channels, targeting the sporting world's most important trends and challenges.
What is SportsTech?
The international sports market is booming.
Behind it lies a burgeoning industrial sector which has pledged to take sports into the next era - Sports Technology.
At SportsTech Scotland, we consider 'sportstech' to refer to any innovative product or service, grounded in science, which meets a demonstrable market need for physically competitive endeavours.
In general, it can be divided into three segments:
- Solutions for Fans
- Solutions for Athletes
- Solutions for Executives
Check out SportsTechX's useful framework:
Why Scotland?
Home of the television, the telephone, and an array of economic and medical innovations which helped to thrust our world into the modern era: Scotland is a powerhouse of invention.
Home to several of the world's strongest sportstech companies, including unicorn FanDuel, we are now carving ourselves a niche in one world's fastest growing sectors.
We have a fertile ground for growing the sector, including a formidable array of National Governing Bodies such as Scottish Hockey, the Scottish Football Association and the Scottish Rugby Union, undergirded by the work of Sportscotland.
WHAT DO WE DO?
We bring all of Scotland's sports technology stakeholders into the same forum and make sure that they are expending the right resources into the right channels, targeting the sporting world's most important trends and challenges.
We are unique within the UK market, but some of our international friends have provided us with our initial frameworks: think of Sports Tech HQ, Profluence and ISTA (USA); Lead (Germany); ASTN (Australia); GSIC and HYPE (international).
We DISCOVER
- Researching the key challenges and trends, both within domestic and overseas sports market
- Engaging with the 'owners' of those challenges & trends, whether they be federation, governing bodies, sports clubs or learning institutions
- Communicating our findings to our members and partners
We DEVELOP
- Helping our existing sportstech companies to redirect their offerings towards the most pertinent trends
- Attracting overseas sportstech companies into the Scottish ecosystem
- Developing new companies within our Startup Studio
We DELIVER
- Connecting our members with domestic opportunities, via our STS Innovation Hub
- Connecting our members with overseas opportunities, via our network of AWAY|GAME Hubs
- Connecting our members with funding, via our STS Syndicate
Our 3 pillars guide everything that we do, and help us to carve out Scotland's place as an international laboratory for the application of cutting edge sportstech solutions. Our companies build their solutions within our ecosystem, refine them, then target opportunities around the sporting world.
Our team is experienced, dynamic and excited to take the sector to the next level. More importantly, we are super well-networked.
We bring together stakeholders from across the Scottish sportstech sector - and beyond - to make sure that we are ideally positioned for the coming revolution in sports.
Our ambitions are global, so we partner with the best in the world.
Our Goals
Over a 10 year period, SportsTech Scotland will create:
- 200 new companies, 3,000 new jobs and £2 billion in company valuation for the Scottish economy
- Improvements in athletic performance, venue management and fan experience within domestic sports
- Increases in sports participation, health and wellbeing outcomes within Scottish society
Our Partners
Our operations are not possible without the knowledge, collaboration and support of partner organisations. To date, SportsTech Scotland has formed strategic partnerships, and opened dialogues, with a wide array of domestic and international organisations, including:
Techscaler | GSIC | Sports Tech HQ | SportsTechX | ISTA | Hype | University of North Carolina Blue Honors | Sports Tech Law | Codebase | The Events Hubs | Marks & Clerk | University of Stirling | University of Edinburgh | Innovative Partners | K12 Sports Tech | Hibiscus Innovation Gateway | Homeless World Cup
What's On in 2025?
March
- Launch of the STS ROADSHOW. Our team will visit every single professional and semi-professional sports club in Scotland to conduct a comprehensive tech assessment, within a 12 month period. 🏃♂️ Kicking off with Edinburgh City FC
- The EDINBURGH MEET-UP. Our first informal get-together, featuring 30 sports/sportstech representatives from Edinburgh and beyond. ⚖️ Sponsored by Sports Tech Law
April
- Launch of the STS ACCELERATOR, uniting challenges in the international sports market with innovative solutions from the Scottish sportstech ecosystem.
May
- The DUNDEE MEET-UP. Our second get-together, featuring 30 sports/sportstech representatives from Dundee and beyond.
June
- Opening of the STS INNOVATION HUB in Edinburgh, our first physical premises. Home to our operational team, with hotdesk space for 10 sportstech companies and a meeting/function room.
August
- Our SUMMER TRADE MISSION takes us to Toronto, offering our members the chance to explore commercial opportunities in one of North America's most important professional sports markets.
September
- The ABERDEEN MEET-UP. Our third get-together, featuring 30 sports/sportstech representatives from Aberdeen and beyond.
- Launch of STS UNIVERSITY TECH SPRINT, helping Scotland's National Governing Bodies solve some of their most pressing challenges
October
- The inaugural SPORTSTECH GATHERING takes place in Loch Lomond, featuring 50 of the UK's most important sports executives for panel discussions and networking.
- Our AUTUMN TRADE MISSION takes us to Mumbai and Odisha, India, offering our companies insights and networking opportunities in the world's fastest growing sports market.
November
- Opening of the AWAY|GAME HUB in Indianapolis, USA, offering our members the chance to base themselves in the sporting epicentre of North America while exploring market engagement opportunities.
December
- The inaugural SCOTTISH SPORTSTECH AWARDS, hosted at Murrayfield Stadium. An audience of 200 people, watching some of Scotland's most renowned athletes delivering awards in 12 categories.
- Our WINTER TRADE MISSION takes us to Tampa, Florida, for the National Athletic Directors Conference, offering our companies the chance to explore commercial opportunities in the US high school sports market.
A Sneak Peek at 2026
- Fangroup Tech Expo: offering our companies the chance to market their solutions to a gathering of influential fans from Scottish sports clubs.
- Superbowl Watch Party: an all-nighter in Glasgow, with some of our key sports business contacts.
- AI Sportstech Sandbox: allowing our sportstech companies to test their solutions against real life data.
- Trade missions to Saudi Arabia, USA and Australia.
- AWAY|GAME Hubs in England and Mumbai.
An ambitious organisation. A momentous year. JOIN US on this journey.
What will the money be used for?
SportsTech Scotland has been operating for 12 months in a voluntary, part-time capacity. During this time we have made massive strides, including:
- Facilitating 3 x international engagements
- Forming an internship collaboration with University of North Carolina
- Securing speaking roles and ticket discounts for our companies at 4 x international conferences
- Attracting 1 x overseas company to set up in Scotland
- Onboarding 17 members
- Securing 2 part time employees, 8 strategic advisors and 8 formal partnerships
Think of what we could do as a full-time organisation.
We will use the money to become a fully fledged cluster agency, trade association, innovation hub and startup studio:
- Salaries for 3 x employees
- Chief Executive Officer
- Chief Financial Officer
- Cluster Development Executive
- A packed events calendar
- Our first accelerator and sprint programmes, helping 10 student-led projects become trend-led sportstech companies
- The opening of our STS Innovation Hub & AWAY|GAME Hub in Indianapolis.
Where will our revenues come from?
We have an incredible operational plan, including an ambitious revenue-generation model. Key features include:
- Membership fees from corporate partners
- Sponsorships
- Trade missions, challenge programmes, events and talent sourcing
- Grants and programme funding
- Revenue sharing in our Startup Studio
- Income from AWAY|GAME Hubs (rental, services)
- Commissions, inc. distribution and sales
What is AWAY|GAME?
Our commercial arm, focused on international engagement. Our network of AWAY|GAME Hubs across the world will allow sportstech companies to access overseas markets. Featuring workspace rental, market advice and packed events calendar.
The Start-Up Studio
We're super excited about this bit.
The Startup Studio represents SportsTech Scotland's internal capacity to identify opportunities and build tailored solutions.
Working with our partners at Scotland's world-leading universities, as well as some of our most talented business development representatives, we aim to turn 10 ideas into trend-led spinouts every year. We've already got 3 on the go:
The ultimate aim? A unicorn, of course.
Our Team
Founded in early 2024 by Keith Marin and Grahame Paterson, the organisation is now run by a small team of volunteers, all of whom have a strong interest in the sportstech and wider sports business markets.
Cluster Development Executive, Prathaaban Selvaraj, leads our operational output. A graduate from Scotland's foremost sports business university, Stirling, Prathaaban has a sharp eye for identifying the key trends in the sports market and communicating these to a wide array of stakeholders in the Scottish market. From June, Prathaaban will manage the Innovation Hub in Edinburgh.
Key to the operational success of SportsTech Scotland is our Strategic Advisory Board:
Ruby Sweeney - Founder & Director of The Events Hub. 20+ years of expertise in the events industry, where she has designed and delivered major B2B events and conferences as an Events Specialist.
Rob Kinder - Founder of Sports Tech Law. A senior technology & commercial lawyer, providing legal consultancy advice on the business of Sports Technology.
Sam Mailer - Associate at Marks & Clerk. Working with multi-nationals and SMEs in the energy, electronics, transport, medical and sporting sectors, Sam provides IP and patent advice to companies at various stages of growth.
Paul Clelland - Head of NE Scotland Engagement at Codebase. With a diverse career spanning Health & Social Care, Sport, and Technology, Paul is known for his ability to identify and harness opportunities to enhance individual and team performance.
Jim Law - Founder & CEO of Find a Player. Representing one of our most important domestic sportstech companies. Find a Player is a smartphone app that makes it easier for people to organise, find and play sports. We connect players, clubs and games on a local basis and help with all the elements of game organisation.
Michael Davie - Director of Innovative Partners UK. Michael works with companies to recoup some of the costs they've spent making their business work smarter, via R&D tax relief. Works with most of Scotland's professional sports clubs.
Patrick Yandjou - Senior Account Executive at Teamworks. Representing the 'operating system for high performance', powering more than 6,500 sports, military, and public safety organizations around the world. Patrick has huge enthusiasm for all things sports, cutting edge technology and entertainment.
The Numbers
2025
- Revenues: £389,500
- Costs: £197,500
- £192,000
2026
- Revenues: £785,000
- Costs: £375,000
- £410,000
2027
- Revenues: £1,115,000
- Costs: £580,000
- £535,000
What is happening in the global sports market?
Turmoil. Confusion. Revolution.
The past 50 years of sports is being turned upside down...
SportsTech Scotland keeps tracks of the biggest shifts in the sector, in this most pivotal of times. Take a look at these links to find out more:
Recast's Andy Meikle discusses the new era of athlete-led business in the sports sector
A move back towards consumer tech?