La Liga has announced the winners of the first stage of The Startup Competition 2019.
Organised by La Liga and the Global Sports Innovation Centre (GSIC) powered by Microsoft, the initiative seeks to boost digital talent and ideas by promoting disruptive solutions to boost the league’s innovation and technology.
A total of 279 companies from 55 different countries and five continents took part, with the media category won by two entries.
One was a Spanish-developed product that allows for instant movement between different cameras to improve the fan experience, with the added ability to connect with different events simultaneously.
The other was a US-developed application that offers different commenting options for live games and can facilitate the adaptation of La Liga content for broadcast in different countries.
GSIC powered by Microsoft MD Iris Cordoba said: “Thanks to The Startup Competition 2019, 10 innovative companies will have the opportunity to explore synergies on an individual level with La Liga and in group with other winners, and, as a result, initiate pilot schemes within one of the most important sports organisations in the world.
“At GSIC powered by Microsoft we will help them at this stage through our growth acceleration program and by incorporating them into our ecosystem, boosting the integration of these solutions into La Liga’s strategy.”
La Liga innovation director added: “We are convinced that we have picked the perfect startups to improve the LaLiga fan experience and boost our clubs’ technological growth. From this point on we’ll be working hand-in-hand with them in order to maximise the potential of these pioneering projects.”
The final phase of the competition will see the winners presented at the World Football Summit (24-25th September) in Madrid.
