Boost your innovation!
Getting an innovation through the Valley of Death is a major challenge for many entrepreneurs. For entrepreneurs in sports, this turns out to be even more difficult. Innovations in sports often have more social impact than economic impact. Can’t we make a good business model in sports? We think so, but for this, we will have to better support (potential) entrepreneurs in sports. We want to do this through the SportUp Boost program which starts in Thialf in October this year!
SportUp Boost is a national program, which is intended to strengthen the ecosystem of startups in sports. We do this from regional hubs, of which Innovatielab Thialf is one. The goal is to give (potential) entrepreneurs in sport a boost in their entrepreneurship. We focus on a very early stage, where we also want to encourage innovators and scientists to bring their products to the market. In addition, the program is suitable for companies that want to grow in or through sports.
The SportUp Boost program consists of workshops and 1-on-1 coaching for 3 months. From Thialf, the speed skating centre of the world, we make our sport and innovation network available. In the past year, a lot of hard work has been done on the program, the partners, and connection with the Northern Netherlands startup ecosystem, Founded in the North.
Do you have an innovative idea within the area of sport and health and have you tested at least one prototype or first concept in practice? Are you facing challenges, such as team building, value proposition, sales or a (sport) network? Then we can help you.
Registration is open from today on www.sportupboost.nl and closes on September 12th!
SportUp Boost will start on Wednesday, October 9th, and will end during the European Championships in Thialf on January 10th, 2025. In addition to the workshops, the program offers inspiring site-visits to, among others, elite sport organizations such as Thialf and Papendal. 1-on-1 coaching, workshops and inspiring speakers will help you to reflect on your own processes, team composition and business model. The program focuses on early stage startups and will also support in finding a suitable follow-up program.
Do you want to participate in this first edition of SportUp Boost in Thialf?
Visit sportupboost.nl to register directly. On September 26th, you will hear whether you are accepted into the program.
If you have any questions about this pilot edition, please send an email to Innovatielab@thialf.nl.
SportUp background and current partners:
SportUp is a program with its origins in Belgium. It has been rolled out to the Netherlands in the past year and a half through a One Single Hub subsidy from RvO. From 4 local hubs in Eindhoven (Orange Sport Forum), Amsterdam (AISS), Papendal and Heerenveen (Innovation Lab Thialf) we want to support the Netherlands from a regional position. Imec-Istart and SportUp Belgium support this process.
The pilot in the autumn is made possible by Innovatielab Thialf, Thialf, Sportstad Heerenveen, Heerenveen ‘n Gouden Plak, Sport Science Institute Groningen and Sportinnovator.
