Top Sports Startups to Watch (and Work for) in 2023

My Background

Hi, I'm Kieran! I worked in startups for five years at On Deck and Wefunder. Some of my favorite things that I've worked on during my career include:

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Wefunder Workaway: 12 founders working on a new idea, 7 days, 1 mansion in Hawaii. One of the teams we picked raised a Series A from Andreessen Horowitz, and two people who met during the trip got married...

On Deck: As employee #15, I contributed to the startup's growth from no revenue to a $20 million run rate in less than a year. I led the team that built the admission infrastructure to support and scale ~20 fellowships for founders, capital allocators, operators, and creators.

XX: Worked on a pre-YC accelerator program that invested $125K on an MFN SAFE into 8-10 teams per cohort.

ODX: Worked on a $100 million accelerator program that invested $125K for 7% into 100s of startups. We partnered with leaders like Flexport to build vertical industry tracks around supply chain & logistics, etc.

Ryan Marketing: Created an influencer marketing startup (2 million+ Instagram followers) during college with my twin brother and realized early that monetization for creators was broken. I learned a lot, and it paid enough to cover my schooling, rent, and meals.

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The Methodology

I considered several data points to arrive at the startups selected on this list, including company traction, funding raised, valuation, and investors. From my initial list, I then referenced each startup with my personal network to narrow down the list to the one you see below. I take my credibility seriously, so I do not take any money from startups who want to be included on this list to remain impartial. If you want to understand my analysis of startups and prefer long-form content, read my research on the top startups of 2023 afterward.

Hudl

Tools to help every team, coach, and athlete improve.

Headquarters

Lincoln, Nebraska

Industry

Sports

Founded

2006

Funding

$228.9 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of July 2023, Hudl has 6 million+ users, up from 3.5 million users in April 2015, and 200,000+ teams, up from 160,000 teams in May 2020, across 40 sports.

Full Profile

Sleeper

Fantasy sports platform.

Headquarters

San Mateo, California

Industry

Sports

Founded

2015

Funding

$67.3 million

Valuation

$400 million+

Traction

In 2021, Sleeper had 3 million active users, doubling its user base from the previous year, and boasts top 50 user retention in the app store.

Full Profile

Overtime

Sports media company.

Headquarters

Brooklyn, New York

Industry

Sports

Founded

2016

Funding

$215.1 million

Valuation

$500 million

Traction

As of June 2023, Overtime reports two billion+ monthly views and 70 million+ followers across seven platforms (up from 65 million+ followers in August 2022).

Full Profile

TeamSnap

Youth sports team, club, and league management.

Headquarters

Boulder, Colorado

Industry

Sports

Founded

2009

Funding

$58.6 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of July 2023, TeamSnap has 25 million customers, 19,000 sports organizations, and a 98% customer satisfaction rating.

As of July 2023, TeamSnap has rated 4.8/5 stars from 47.7K reviews on the Apple App Store and 4.3/5 stars from 28.3K reviews on the Google Play Store.

As of July 2023, TeamSnap has been downloaded one million+ times.

As of 2022, TeamSnap has 40,000 sports organizations on the platform.

In 2022, TeamSnap hosted 25 million events, up 19% YoY over 2021.

In 2022, TeamSnap reported 7.76 million unique active users in 2022, up 15% YoY over 2021.

In 2022, TeamSnap reported a 23% increase in MAUs and a 35% increase in DAUs over 2021.

In 2022, TeamSnap reported 120 million chats on its platform.

Full Profile

LeagueApps

Youth sports management platform.

Headquarters

New York, New York

Industry

Sports

Founded

2010

Funding

$35 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of July 2021, LeagueApps has 3,000 sports organizations on the platform.

In Spring 2021, LeagueApps crossed $2 billion in transactions, up from $1 billion in the Summer of 2019.

Between 2016 and 2019, LeagueApps reported 275% revenue growth.

Full Profile

FantasyPros

Fantasy sports website.

Headquarters

Las Vegas, Nevada

Industry

Sports

Founded

2010

Funding

N/A

Valuation

N/A

Traction

As of July 2023, FantasyPros gets 4.9 million monthly visitors with an average visit duration of 4 minutes and 40 seconds.

In 2020, FantasyPros reported 38 million annual visitors, 2.22 billion impressions, 1.2 million email subscribers, and an average time on site of 5 minutes and 8 seconds.

Full Profile

Veo

The ultimate camera for team sports.

Headquarters

Copenhagen, Denmark

Industry

Sports

Founded

2015

Funding

$113.3 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of July 2023, Veo has recorded one million+ matches, 500,000+ coaches and players have used Veo, and it has customers in 80+ countries.

Between January 2021 and September 2019, Veo reported ~400% customer growth.

Full Profile

Minute Media

A digital-first media company.

Headquarters

New York, New York

Industry

Sports

Founded

2011

Funding

$160 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of July 2023, Minute Media has six digital brands, 500+ publishing and advertising partners, a 350 million+ global monthly footprint, and 100% YoY growth.

As of March 2023, Minute Media projected $250 million in sales for the year and reported growing top line by 30-35% organically.

Minute Media advertising partners include Nike, Warner Bros, Budweiser, Powerade, Kia, Hennessy, and Discover.

As of February 2020, Minute Media was on track for $200 million.

In 2019, Minute Media grew 100% over the previous year.

Full Profile

MOJO Sports

Youth sports coaching.

Headquarters

Santa Monica, California

Industry

Sports

Founded

2019

Funding

$8 million+

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of July 2023, MOJO Sports has rated 4.8/5 stars from 1,900 reviews on the Apple App Store and 4.1/5 stars from 116 reviews on the Google Play Store.

As of July 2023, MOJO Sports has been downloaded 100,000+ times on the Google Play Store.

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TOGETHXR

A media and commerce company where representation and equality are the norm.

Headquarters

Los Angeles, California

Industry

Sports

Founded

2021

Funding

N/A

Valuation

N/A

Traction

As of July 2023, TOGETHXR has 160K Instagram followers, 2.4 million TikTok followers, and 131K Youtube subscribers.

TOGETHXR was founded by Chloe Kim, Alex Morgan, Sue Bird, and Simone Manuel.

Full Profile

Nobull

Training shoes, apparel, and accessories.

Headquarters

Boston, Massachusetts

Industry

Sports, Fitness

Founded

2014

Funding

$32 million

Valuation

$500 million+

Traction

As of July 2023, Nobull has 1.4 million Instagram followers and 598K Facebook followers.

In 2020, Nobull reported 80% YoY growth over 2019.

Full Profile

Mojo

Bet on sports like stocks.

Headquarters

New York, New York

Industry

Sports, Gambling

Founded

2021

Funding

$100 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of July 2023, Mojo is live in New Jersey.

As of July 2023, Mojo has rated 4.7/5 stars from 625 reviews on the Apple App Store and 4.6/5 stars from 6 reviews on the Google Play Store.

As of July 2023, Mojo has 5,000+ downloads on the Google Play Store.

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TAPPP

The flexible way to watch and bet.

Headquarters

New York, New York

Industry

Sports

Founded

2011

Funding

$21.4 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of July 2023, TAPPP is officially partnered with the MLB and BetMGM.

Between 2018 and April 2022, TAPPP launched payment products across 25,000+ US retail doors.

Full Profile

FanGraphs

Baseball statistics and analysis.

Headquarters

Arlington, Virginia

Industry

Sports

Founded

2009

Funding

N/A

Valuation

N/A

Traction

As of July 2023, FanGraphs gets 5.6 million monthly visitors with an average visit duration of 6 minutes.

Full Profile

Mustard

Real-time analytics and instruction from the world’s best coaches and athletes.

Headquarters

Los Angeles, California

Industry

Sports

Founded

2019

Funding

$5.5 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of July 2023, Mustard has rated 4.7/5 stars from 116 ratings on the Apple App Store.

Full Profile

Eksab

Fantasy football platform.

Headquarters

Cairo, Al Qahirah, Egypt

Industry

Sports

Founded

2017

Funding

$3.5 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of July 2023, Eksab’s Facebook group has 33,000 members.

As of March 2022, Eksab has 700,000+ users in Egypt on the platform, and its paying subscribers were growing on average 60% MoM since launching its premium in 2021.

Full Profile

Stadium Live

The sports metaverse.

Headquarters

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Industry

Sports

Founded

2020

Funding

$13 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of July 2023, Stadium Live has 4.8/5 stars from 32.5K reviews on the Apple App Store and 4.8/5 stars from 807 reviews on the Google Play Store.

As of July 2023, Stadium Live has been downloaded 10,000+ times on the Google Play Store.

As of July 2022, Stadium Live reported 500,000 users to date.

Full Profile

Huupe

Smart basketball hoop.

Headquarters

Irvine, California

Industry

Sports

Founded

2015

Funding

$11.3 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of May 2023, Huppe wants to deliver its first 1,000 hoops by the end of the year.

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Playermaker

The #1 football tracker device.

Headquarters

London, England, United Kingdom

Industry

Sports

Founded

2016

Funding

$40 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

As of June 2022, Playermaker is being used by 250 teams, including Manchester City.

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Underdog Fantasy

Daily and season long fantasy contests.

Headquarters

Brooklyn, New York

Industry

Sports

Founded

2020

Funding

$45 million

Valuation

$485 million

Traction

In December 2022, Underdog Fantasy was awarded a license to operate as an online sports betting service by the Ohio Casino Control Commission.

As of July 2022, Underdog Fantasy was available in every state besides Connecticut, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Louisiana, Montana, Washington, Delaware, and Iowa.

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