During the closing of the Sports Tomorrow Congress, the days of technological innovation promoted by the Barça Innovation Hub (BIHUB) that were held last week, the President Joan Laporta announced a relaunch of the Club’s innovation and knowledge center, which now includes a startup investment platform to promote entrepreneurial talent in the sports sector and capture the value of its growth.
This new phase aims to expand the activities of FC Barcelona to bring it closer to emerging companies in the world of sports innovation that share “our values and our passion for sport”, as stated by the president. The objective is “help these startups grow, prosper and have a significant impact in the world”. The Club will become part of the shareholders of these companies.
OLIVER, the solution that democratizes elite football technology
The first company to be announced is OLIVER, a solution that makes the usual technology accessible in elite clubs, for sports categories that, traditionally, have not had access, such as Futsal teams, grassroots, women’s, regional and amateur football. This tool helps soccer communities improve their skills and knowledge of the game by providing sports performance data through a small device that is placed on the player’s average during training sessions and matches.
“We know that grassroots teams are the lifeblood of football, and we want to support their development and growth in any way we can.”“, the president acknowledged. For his part, José González Ruzo, CEO of OLIVERhas explained that his proposal “It democratizes elite technology for all sports sectors by combining a wearable, artificial intelligence and a 100% gamified mobile application to improve the performance of soccer players. We currently work with 95 teams in more than 20 countries.” has remembered.
The other company that the Barça Innovation Hub is committed to is Visualfy, which develops technology that makes sports venues accessible to people with hearing disabilities.
Multiply Barça’s innovation engine
The new stage ahead of the BIHUB will serve to multiply the Club’s innovation engine in an environment where many emerging companies are capable of adapting technologies and solutions of great projection faster than large companies.
Although the amount invested in both companies has not been revealed, the manager has announced the refocusing of the Barça Innovation Hub towards investing in sports startups and has stated that these two investments “They are the first of many to come.”
The new portfolio of startups that will be created in the coming months will allow the Club to be at the forefront of the transformation in the world of sport and, at the same time, will help Barcelona and the country to develop a value-added economy, promoting local talent and attracting global talent and putting the Barça brand at the service of diversifying the Catalan economic fabric.