Wayne Kimmel Quoted in Sports Business Journal

AI plays growing role in sports tech asset class

Conversations with startups seeking capital have shifted dramatically, mainly because of AI’s buzz-worthy nature in a U.S. ecosystem in which tech giants such as Meta, Google, Apple, and others are constantly news cycling for their pursuits of innovation in the “it” technology. Wayne Kimmel, managing partner at SeventySix Capital, highlighted that AI is “on the tip of everyone’s tongue.” That’s not to say that companies weren’t using AI before, he contends, but it was never seen as the selling point it is now.

There’s no shortage of companies that have discovered their AI-fueled paths, represented by the wide-ranging problems being solved across many sectors of sports. KB Partners has invested in companies ranging from nVenue (micro-betting firm) to Vow (seating and guest experience logistics). SeventySix Capital has backed others such as Boomerang (lost-and-found tech) and IC360 (betting regulation), while Ryan Sports Ventures has connected with Greenfly (short-form content production) and Playermaker (soccer performance analysis).

That’s just a quick glimpse of the avenues AI has found in sports. With the growth of more data generally in the space, plus the swell of AI impact on our daily lives and all levels of sports, Kimmel sees the trendline on AI remaining at a steep pitch for the foreseeable future. “It’s all happening,” Kimmel said. “We just want to back the entrepreneurs that are bringing this innovation to the world of sports, and it’s pretty damn fun.”