New fund for sports technology investment launched in Lisbon
The first ever European fund dedicated to early stage sports technology has been launched in Lisbon.
The fund’s target investment amount is €5 million and the goal is to build a portfolio of between 25-30 startups.
Coreangels, a global community of business angels, has just launched the first European fund exclusively dedicated to new innovation projects in sports technologies. Coreangels SportsTech was created to respond to the accelerated growth of this sector in Europe and will have five million euros to invest specifically in early stage startups. It will be based in Lisbon and will be managed by OW Ventures.
The new fund aims to boost growth and innovation in the sports tech sector by investing in new projects that are redefining the way sport is practiced. The goal is to build a portfolio of 25 to 30 startups, with an average ticket of €120,000 per investment.
“The fund is starting up, the first investment committee will be held in October. The goal is for the first closing, from €500,000 to €1 million, to be made in early 2026, in January, to reach five million,” Luís Gutman, CEO of OW Ventures, told Jornal Económico.
Created from scratch, following the creation of COREangels, this is the second COREangels fund under the management of OW Ventures with the goal of investing in SportsTech Europe-wide.
“The idea of launching COREangels SportsTech was born from the realization that there are few funds in the world that invest in technology in sports, despite this being a segment that has been growing a lot in recent years. There is vast potential for technology to transform all facets of sports, from athlete performance to fan engagement and club management,” says Maurizio Calcopietro, managing partner of COREangels SportsTech in Lisbon.
Last year alone, the European SportsTech sector generated €350 million in revenues, it being estimated that by 2027 this value will grow to €470 million with an estimated potential value of €6Bn according to the ‘European Sportstech & Esports Report 2024” from Pulsar Sports.
The fund is headquartered in Lisbon but has a team in Spain in Barcelona. “COREangels investment model is based on the ‘portfolio angel investing’ philosophy which has the greatest return potential when compared to individual or crowdfunding investments which is explained from the security that can be got from a collective decision, the diversification of risk, and, above all, by the dedicated monitoring and support for the startups involved.
We don’t just want to be investors, we want to be growth partners,” says Juan Moreno, managing partner of COREangels SportsTech in Barcelona. In other words, like other COREangels funds, this one will operate according to the archangel model, in which investors participate in the process of selecting and supporting the startups.
