The importance of technology entrepreneurship in the sport industry: How sports tech start-ups affect athletes

This thesis has investigated the landscape of sports technology entrepreneurship. Without significant earlier research being conducted in this area, this thesis provides an overview of the key insights and trends that have been gathered through in-depth interviews with entrepreneurs, sports tech experts, organisation leaders, and additional online research. It is estimated that artificial intelligence and smart tools will play a key role in the future of this industry. Start-ups should focus on working closely together with the end customers, understanding their needs in depth and iterating from the start. Additionally, partners are of major importance in order for start-ups to be successful and this thesis calls for an even greater amount of support from other organisations, especially when it comes to funding. Further research should focus on other areas of sports tech entrepreneurship, such as the valuation and profitability of start-ups by using quantitative methods. Additional research should also try to establish trends or insights that are generalisable across other regions.