Finalists have been announced for a contest that’s putting the spotlight on the startups taking off in the SportsTech sector

‘The Front Runner’ is part of the One-Zero 2019 conference, which will take place at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Tuesday, September 17th.

The contest is sponsored by Enterprise Ireland and supported by Dublin City Council and Dublin Business Innovation Centre. It launched last month and entries were invited from enterprises across the areas of Broadcast & Media, Sponsorship, Fan Engagement and Esports, all of which are pillars of the business under the spotlight at One-Zero 2019

Four finalists have been selected from a field of more than 50 entrants from around the world - here’s a rundown of what they’re about:

Volograms:volograms.com

Volograms is a Dublin-based technology startup which uses multiple camera viewpoints to turn a simple video into a VR and AR type vologram. This can be viewed on any smartphone, tablet or VR headset. They are working with the likes of Facebook and Snapchat to help redefine the way creators and brands communicate with their fans.

Pico:www.picogp.com

Pico was founded in 2014 and has clients and offices in Israel, the US and Europe. It’s designed to be a platform which enables brands to connect closer to their fans on a one-on-one basis, through digital activation and in-game experiences. They are currently working with brands such as the NHL, Samsung, Nike and Universal to help engage, captivate and convert their fans.

Reactoo:reactoo.com

UK based Reactoo aim to make watching sport more of a social experience, through providing a platform where fans can remotely watch sports events together with their friends and family. Their platform synchronises video chat and sports live-streams so that friends can enjoy a match together, regardless of where they are in the world.

Snaptivity:snaptivityapp.com

Snaptivity are a multi-award winning UK tech company. They use AI-controlled robotic cameras to identify, measure and capture emotional spikes at live events. They work with the likes of the Premier League and related partners to capture candid and memorable match moments, which put the fan at the centre.

As Front Runner finalists, each of these enterprises will now have the chance to pitch to the One-Zero 2019 audience at the Aviva and take questions about what their business is all about.

And that’s no ordinary audience. The stellar line-up on the One-Zero speaker list means representatives from global leaders like Microsoft, Cloud9, R/GA Ventures, SportsVEST, NHL, NFL, Formula 1 and many more will be there, ready to be impressed by the Front Runner hopefuls.

The inaugural winner of the Front Runner title will be selected through a process involving an audience poll and a judging panel including Benjamin Penkert, founder of SportsTechX and representatives from Dublin City Council and Dublin Business In the Community. The successful team will be awarded a fantastic €10,000 cash prize.

Conor Carmody is Manager of the Investor-Ready Accelerator at Dublin BIC, which works with approximately 100 start-ups each year and helped deliver the competition. He says“We’re seeing very strong innovation in sports tech right now, making it an exciting time for start-ups in this space. The calibre of entries for the Front Runner competition was extremely high, leading to what we expect will be a very close pitch battle at One-Zero 2019 with those competing walking away with big benefits in terms of profile and access to collaboration opportunities, not to mention a significant financial injection”.

Patrick Haslett is CEO of One-Zero 2019 - he believes they’ve hit upon a rich source of exciting enterprises:The contest is proving to be an integral part of our programme at One-Zero, as a showcase for the exciting developments coming through the international pipeline in the SportsTech and business of sport sectors. We’re so proud to have the chance to display these innovative projects at our event”.

Tickets for One-Zero are still on sale atone-zero.com