Startup and technology specialist, Sara’s expertise lies in private company transactions and growth strategies. Sara is currently advising family-offices and financial institutions on private technology investments. Previously, as investment manager at Leap Ventures (a venture capital firm investing in Europe and the Middle East), she oversaw the entire investment process of two funds and worked on transactions from deal sourcing to portfolio management. Prior to that Sara worked as associate director at Endeavor, where she handled the selection and services program for high-impact businesses.

A former professional athlete, coach, and senior management into my current role as a techncial and scientific expert with Qatar Swimming Association. A PhD level in sport science and masters in sport and facility management. Strong networking, people management, and communication skills. 

MBA from Mannheim Business School in Germany and an undergraduate degree in Electronics and Telecommunication from Pt. R.S. University in India Owing to my extensive experience of working with different assets (clubs and tournaments) across countries and continents on a multitude of problems (commercial, marketing, financial, operational), I can support startups in understanding how different assets think, how can they pitch and navigate different stakeholder expectations. I can further support in terms of product improvement, shaping business models for assets, creating a promotional strategy to gain traction, all of which impact the funding prospectstechnology. Worked globally across Europe (Germany, Spain, UK, France, Sweden, Hungary, etc.) and Asia (India and China). 6 years of experience at Lagardère across sports (football, tennis, golf, eSports, etc.) and entertainment (concerts, festivals, family events, etc.) projects

Snapshot of responsibilities:

• Commercial strategy development (product, pricing, KPIs definition, reporting framework, etc.) and implementation across projects ranging from ticketing, hospitality, and sponsorship, F&B, corporate events, etc.
• Cross-channel marketing strategy development (product innovation, content, communication, and customer management) and implementation across projects ranging from fan engagement to digitalization to internationalization, etc.
• Financial strategy development with CXO’s across topics ranging from long term business planning to due diligence to stadium financing to new business development etc.
• Operational strategy development (event, F&B, facilities management, etc.) and implementation across stadiums such as Groupama arena (24,000 seats) in Germany, Anoeta Stadium (42,000 seats) in Spain, etc. and multifunctional arenas such as Friendsarena (65,000 seats) in Sweden
• Driving innovation via strategic partnerships (LiveNation, PMY Capital, etc.) and customizing solutions for Lagardère universe by working closely with the product (sponsorship innovation), sales, digital incl. analytics, new sports (eSports) teams

I’m a a SportsTech / FitTech entrepreneur since 2017. I founded SOLOS in 2017 in Munich – a digital fitness mirror that measures the movements from distance and shows on the mirror surface if the users are training right or wrong. SOLOS raised high six-digit investment, won ISPO & FIBO (3x nominee) awards, participated in 4 accelerators, and applied for several patents. I gained experience in the areas of FitTech / SportsTech, B2B and B2B2C, Software-Hardware product development, go-to-market strategy, MVP, financing, and M&A, product-market-fit, Business Development and cooperation with large corporations. Furthermore, I have a broad network in the fitness industry as well as the startup/investor ecosystem of UnternehmerTUM, ESA BIC, and Telefonica Open Innovation Hub – Wayra. I’m based in Munich and looking forward to supporting the entrepreneurs and shape the future of sports technology. 

Founder and CEO. Deep experience in the world of Profession Soccer as a Licensed FIFA Agent and youth coach. He worked with Bob Bradley (former USMNT Head Coach) to build his initial pipeline in Egypt. He is the President and Owner of Kora Stars, a sports agency based in San Francisco with a focus on placing international players from Africa, MENA and North America.

I founded a digital health startup incubator and also I was mentor & advisor of more than 200 startups in healthcare and lifestyle area. 

As a Director at OneFootball, Tom is leading benchmark setting projects within a mobile first, digital only environment. With more than 50 million active users per season globally, Onefootball is the most popular digital media platform for the new generation of football fans. Tom will help our start-ups with his unique expertise along digital businesses, but also with access to his high level network in the global sports industry. 

Indica has been working with startups in different roles for the past 5 years. During this time, he has headed a government tech incubator where 30 plus startups and idea stage teams were incubated. During this period, he was instrumental in launching new training and technology enablement programmes for the startups.

He is a certified lean startup coach and is actively involved in coaching and mentoring startups with the incubators and accelerators in Qatar. Indica is closely connected to the local angel investor network and has been a judge and mentor for many local, regional and global startup initiatives. For the past 20 years he has been working in the technology industry in both Sri Lanka and Qatar. His last assignment was with the Ministry of Transport and Communications for 8 years, where he was part of many national programs related to technology, entrepreneurship and innovation.

Indica currently works for the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy. He is part of a team that drives the Challenge 22 program, which is an startup innovation programme that opens the door for entrepreneurs and innovators to explore solutions that directly enhance and address the challenges related to mega events, and bring benefits to Qatar and the wider region. 

I’m an Australian Chartered Accountant with considerable experience working for leading financial investment firms across Australia, the UK and the Middle East. These firms include ADIA, Apollo, Citi and CBRE in various capacities. I also am a lifelong sports fan having played many sports including cricket, tennis, golf and soccer amongst others.

Over 10 years of experience in manufacturing, quality, and advance material processing. Co-founded a start up in the field of smart wearable medical devices. Hamed has knowledge and experience in various stages of product life cycle from early concept design up to mass production and manufacturing optimization for increased efficiency.

Mazin serves as Portfolio Impact Lead at IDO Investments. Prior to that, Mazin was at Oman’s largest sovereign wealth fund, State General Reserve Fund, where he worked on sourcing, analysing and closing deals in the Private Equity department, as well as develop the local angle for PE deals. Mazin also occupies the role of Non-Executive Director at Oman Energy Development, a greenfield renewable energy developer and IPP in the Sultanate. Mazin is a Harvard Business School (USA) accredited Private Equity & Venture Capital professional and hold a Bachelor of Business degree from Bond University (Australia) and a Master of Science degree in International Business & Entrepreneurship from Kingston Business School (London, UK), where he also developed an internationalisation strategy for a MedTech startup, and mentored founders with their business. In addition to his professional memberships, Mazin is a Global Shaper, an initiative by the World Economic Forum which recognises young leaders who catalyse projects of high value in their communities to create a global shared value.

Garrett Klugh is the COO of Falk Ventures, the venture capital arm for the family office of legendary sports agent, David Falk. Garrett is also the co-founder of Huddle Sports Partners, a high-touch sport-tech advisory firm. Garrett formerly served as the Managing Director of STAR Angel Network, providing professional athletes access to early-stage investment opportunities. Prior to STAR, Garrett worked for the US Olympic Committee during the Beijing and London Olympic and Paralympic Games. A six-time US National Rowing Team member, World Champion, and Olympian (2004), Garrett holds an MBA from George Washington University and an undergraduate degree from San Diego State University.

The Chinese bamboo plant takes 10 years to grow 6 inches. It then grows 10 feet in six months. How do you see it? Did the plant grow 10 feet in six months or 10 feet and six inches in 10 years and six months?

Through trial and error, not only thinking and over-thinking ideas but doing. In my 7-8 years of experience as an entrepreneur, I made many mistakes, but I ended up better after all. In my opinion mindset and beliefs are essential to succeed in the end.

Besides my work, as a founder and owner of three companies, I am a performance psychologist. I always want to know the why, and I don’t stop until you answer the question yourself. I combine my practical knowledge with theoretical foundations to come up with something that is evidence-based.

We can learn from other businesses and markets, If you open up they will.

Think ahead, embrace the why and sustainability will be the effect.

A seasoned business leader with 16+ yrs of progressive experience in leveraging solution consulting & program management to Fortune 1000 clients, in the FMCG, Hi-Tech, Sports & Media vertical. Experienced with tech-startups across Sports, Healthcare, Hospitality & Media verticals. Have assisted over 80 technology startups with go-to-market strategy & thriving operational efficiency.

While my Head is in Technology, my Heart is in Sports… Sport is an integral part of my life. From being a competitive athlete to a game-changer in #SportsBusiness. Continuously working on building “Sport-as-a-Brand” through Talent Representation, Brand Marketing & Positioning Strategy, Commercialisation of Sports using Fan Engagement, Smart Connected Arena & Sports Development & CSR.

Sports is my greatest teacher, and it has taught me one important thing: “You can’t put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the further you get…”

Working on “CxO-as-a-Service” model in Sportertainment, Technology & Management Consulting areas towards Brand Marketing, Business Strategy & CSR

Champions keep playing until they get it right.. and hence More I Play… More I Learn!!!

Digital strategy, branding, and design for sports and outdoors.

Ian Seltzer is currently the lead for Business Development at Pierce Yates Ventures, where he has developed eSports, media, entertainment, sports betting and AI verticals for early-stage investment. Previously, he led Content & Business Development for Rogue Sports, one of the top-ranked eSports teams in the world. He has worked at Hulu, Vuguru (Michael Eisner’s digital studio), and Paramount Digital Entertainment covering content creation, licensing, distribution and digital marketing. While there he developed, licensed and launched 30 original titles for TV, film and the web in over 110 countries worldwide. Ian graduated with a BA in History from the University of Pennsylvania and subsequently earned an MS with Merit in Media and Communications from the London School of Economics with a research focus on monetizing streaming media content in the U.S.

Ishveen Anand is the founder and CEO of OpenSponsorship is the largest Sports Sponsorship marketplace, covering over 150 sports and 6,000 professional athletes, teams and events. Having completed over 3,000 deals, OpenSponsorship provides brands with its software-enabled sponsorship tools that are powered by AI, Google Analytics, IBM Watson, Shopify integrations, APIs and ROI tracking. Ishveen, is a British native who graduated from Oxford University, she was on the Forbes 30 Under 30 2015 Sports List, and has been featured in Entrepreneur, Forbes, Fortune, NASDAQ Private Business, Sports Business Daily, SportsTechie Elle, ISPO and other publicans. Prior to starting OpenSponsorship, she was a sports agent working with top teams and federations such as Mumbai Indians, Tottenham Hotspur, ICC, FIH and brands such as Hero MotoCorp, Mastercard and Castrol.

14 years experience empowering sustainable growth for tech-oriented business in 9 Countries in EMEA and South America.

Francisco demonstrated history of breaking even start-up projects and Corporate business in specializing in different ICT sub-sectors: E-Commerce, TechFood, Gaming, Real Estate Platforms, FinTech, BI and Online Media.

As the former Head of Design at Startupbootcamp, Robin worked with more than 175 startups worldwide and is well known with the global SBC organisation. He’s helping startups within the program with their pitch and investor decks mostly.

Venues, Stadium & Major Sporting Events Expert

Working in various capacities for the last 8 years to innovate Sports Tech, rehabilitation and wellness through wearable. Partially involved in a green initiative towards zero carbon footprint future cities and energy management systems. To achieve this, innovations and startups are the future and Data Science is the wisdom behind it.

As VP, Business Development, Jahon is responsible for developing strategies for attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) to Qatar through the QFC platform (Qatar Financial Center) and forging cooperation with investment, trade and business representatives of foreign governments. Jahon Responsible for attracting international and local firms, private partners, family offices and associations to the QFC platform for starting and running a business in Qatar and from Qatar. At work, Jahon deals with investment promotion, economic development, fan of tech & startup, interested in entrepreneurship and confident at public speaking.

Peter Ferguson serves as the IBM Innovation Hub Leader, In Doha.

Innovative ideas and solution for Masses which motivates me to keep striding ahead and bring the latest for the masses. I have been looking forward keenly in the sports industry from 2 years and now assess it as the hottest growing market with immense opportunity of growth and development. I have been associated with BASICX to transform the ideas of sports in an easy form to locale of the grassroots. Marketing the product in the right direction to ascertain the right value to investors is my key expertise.

Graduated in Electrical Engineering and MBA (Strategy). Founded two company one is for R&D services another for IoT.

I am a VC investor with a passion for the sports industry, constantly looking to engage with talented entrepreneurs. I am currently Vice President of Investments & Strategy at Aser, the first European-based fund dedicated to sports investments founded by Andrea Radrizzani in London. I am responsible for the origination and execution of all potential investments, as well as working closely with portfolio companies to identify growth opportunities. Aser’s portfolio includes English Championship historic club Leeds United Football Club, global broadcaster Eleven Sports, sports influencer networks Whistle Sports and Hellodi, live-events production company Easyprod, San-Francisco based data & analytics start-up Sport Data Labs, amongst others.

I have also recently joined the Techstars Sports Accelerator program based in Indianapolis, in quality of Mentor.

Previously, I spent 3 years working for Accenture where I was part of the Corporate Strategy practice, with a special focus on TMT clients. I worked on a variety of clients and international projects across Germany, South Africa, Spain, US, and France.

Originally from Paris, I completed my Masters Degree from Grenoble Graduate School of Business between France and Australia.

We are at the very beginning of a new era for sports, leading to an incredible amount of exciting opportunities across the board. Technology is changing the way fans engage with their favourite club, viewers watch content, athletes measure their performance, etc. It is key to support the community in search for the right business model and monetisation strategy. Even more so for sports than it is for other sectors, there is a lot of room to leverage commercial synergies, providing an attractive way for investors to get on board and reduce their risk.

Aser was the first European-based funds to get involved in the sports segment by building a significant portfolio in just over 3 years, spanning sports, media and tech assets. Working across all these deals and supporting our companies with commercial and business development activities has been a great way to get exposed to a variety of approaches, business models, and go-to-market strategies. I’m hoping that the experience that I have accumulated over the years will prove useful to entrepreneurs part of the program.

For the last 25 years, I have been venture building and investing in early-stage startups and scale-ups, whilst also advising startups at various levels as well as mentoring across various accelerator and incubator programs. My passion is building new meaningful and enduring technology companies and over the years I have designed groundbreaking & award-winning technologies in FinTech, Automotive, IoT/Wearables, with three successful company exits.

I am genuinely passionate about supporting entrepreneurs in any way I can, creating stories that bring alive the power of tech startups and along my journey across 4 different continents, I have been privileged to have worked with some amazing and brilliant people. Joining Qatar SportTech as a mentor is a pleasure for me because it’s a sector I know extremely well from being involved in sports from a very young age but also as I have a very exciting tech startup in this space that will disrupt the status quo over time. However, it’s my collective experience and passion for building startups that excites me to be involved.

Technology is certainly impacting the world of sports and as mentioned before I have a tech startup in this space which is very exciting and will definitely disrupt the status quo over time. However the advances in technology have had a profound impact on sport such as analysis of sport performance and enabling coaches to greatly improve the quality of feedback to players/athletes, increasing accuracy in time measurements of sport performance, enabling referees, umpires and sport officials to make better decisions on rule infringements, improvements in the design of sport equipment and apparel as well as providing spectators with better viewing of sport performance. Sport is now a business with so much at stake!

Most and foremost is for them to know that I’m available at any time during their journey. They will definitely get to witness my passion, energy, and commitment for helping them get their ventures off the ground. My support will also be focused on helping them with understanding customer experience, design thinking, visual storytelling, the art of creative pitching, how to present themselves and understanding what investors really look for in founders, last but not least their vision meaning their future scalability.

I like to call myself a globetrotter, I moved from country to country in my youth which taught me English, French, Portuguese, Arabic, and Spanish. I picked up a basketball at the age 6 while playing against my older brother Mazen, and my passion was cemented at 12 when I played three years at the Wehda Club in Tripoli, Libya. Later I pursued careers in both basketball and marketing, including playing for the Flamengo Basketball Club in Rio de Janeiro and graduating with honors from the John Molson School of Business.

Some of my previous work included projects for the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB), I led the daily content distribution strategy for social media and delivery of video content for broadcasters. Currently, I am working as the digital projects manager for the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) leading the creation of new digital products and event-specific products.”

I am your change agent and my heart is on fire for the most challenging sports applications in the world. I have started numerous companies, some were a brilliant success, while others crashed. I enjoy strategic planning, product development, financial analysis, as well as, communicating (storytelling) the significance of innovation to the sports industry. I understand very technical engineering speak and the hype often involved with marketing. I’m confident that my entrepreneurial mindset with an outstanding organizational and instinctive eye for leadership focused on your technology or your people, will add to your startup culture. Businesses appreciate my innovative infectious personality dedicated to helping teams achieve success – are you the dream team?

A former professional athlete, coach, and senior management into my current role as a techncial and scientific expert with Qatar Swimming Association. A PhD level in sport science and masters in sport and facility management. Strong networking, people management, and communication skills. 

A large part of my career has been focused on organizational transformation, its people, and the resulting shift in operations (agile) and business models (lean). 

MBA from Mannheim Business School in Germany and an undergraduate degree in Electronics and Telecommunication from Pt. R.S. University in India Owing to my extensive experience of working with different assets (clubs and tournaments) across countries and continents on a multitude of problems (commercial, marketing, financial, operational), I can support startups in understanding how different assets think, how can they pitch and navigate different stakeholder expectations. I can further support in terms of product improvement, shaping business models for assets, creating a promotional strategy to gain traction, all of which impact the funding prospectstechnology. Worked globally across Europe (Germany, Spain, UK, France, Sweden, Hungary, etc.) and Asia (India and China). 6 years of experience at Lagardère across sports (football, tennis, golf, eSports, etc.) and entertainment (concerts, festivals, family events, etc.) projects

Snapshot of responsibilities:

• Commercial strategy development (product, pricing, KPIs definition, reporting framework, etc.) and implementation across projects ranging from ticketing, hospitality, and sponsorship, F&B, corporate events, etc.
• Cross-channel marketing strategy development (product innovation, content, communication, and customer management) and implementation across projects ranging from fan engagement to digitalization to internationalization, etc.
• Financial strategy development with CXO’s across topics ranging from long term business planning to due diligence to stadium financing to new business development etc.
• Operational strategy development (event, F&B, facilities management, etc.) and implementation across stadiums such as Groupama arena (24,000 seats) in Germany, Anoeta Stadium (42,000 seats) in Spain, etc. and multifunctional arenas such as Friendsarena (65,000 seats) in Sweden
• Driving innovation via strategic partnerships (LiveNation, PMY Capital, etc.) and customizing solutions for Lagardère universe by working closely with the product (sponsorship innovation), sales, digital incl. analytics, new sports (eSports) teams

I’m a a SportsTech / FitTech entrepreneur since 2017. I founded SOLOS in 2017 in Munich – a digital fitness mirror that measures the movements from distance and shows on the mirror surface if the users are training right or wrong. SOLOS raised high six-digit investment, won ISPO & FIBO (3x nominee) awards, participated in 4 accelerators, and applied for several patents. I gained experience in the areas of FitTech / SportsTech, B2B and B2B2C, Software-Hardware product development, go-to-market strategy, MVP, financing, and M&A, product-market-fit, Business Development and cooperation with large corporations. Furthermore, I have a broad network in the fitness industry as well as the startup/investor ecosystem of UnternehmerTUM, ESA BIC, and Telefonica Open Innovation Hub – Wayra. I’m based in Munich and looking forward to supporting the entrepreneurs and shape the future of sports technology. 

Founder and CEO. Deep experience in the world of Profession Soccer as a Licensed FIFA Agent and youth coach. He worked with Bob Bradley (former USMNT Head Coach) to build his initial pipeline in Egypt. He is the President and Owner of Kora Stars, a sports agency based in San Francisco with a focus on placing international players from Africa, MENA and North America.

I founded a digital health startup incubator and also I was mentor & advisor of more than 200 startups in healthcare and lifestyle area. 

As a Director at OneFootball, Tom is leading benchmark setting projects within a mobile first, digital only environment. With more than 50 million active users per season globally, Onefootball is the most popular digital media platform for the new generation of football fans. Tom will help our start-ups with his unique expertise along digital businesses, but also with access to his high level network in the global sports industry. 

Indica has been working with startups in different roles for the past 5 years. During this time, he has headed a government tech incubator where 30 plus startups and idea stage teams were incubated. During this period, he was instrumental in launching new training and technology enablement programmes for the startups.

He is a certified lean startup coach and is actively involved in coaching and mentoring startups with the incubators and accelerators in Qatar. Indica is closely connected to the local angel investor network and has been a judge and mentor for many local, regional and global startup initiatives. For the past 20 years he has been working in the technology industry in both Sri Lanka and Qatar. His last assignment was with the Ministry of Transport and Communications for 8 years, where he was part of many national programs related to technology, entrepreneurship and innovation.

Indica currently works for the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy. He is part of a team that drives the Challenge 22 program, which is an startup innovation programme that opens the door for entrepreneurs and innovators to explore solutions that directly enhance and address the challenges related to mega events, and bring benefits to Qatar and the wider region. 

I’m an Australian Chartered Accountant with considerable experience working for leading financial investment firms across Australia, the UK and the Middle East. These firms include ADIA, Apollo, Citi and CBRE in various capacities. I also am a lifelong sports fan having played many sports including cricket, tennis, golf and soccer amongst others.

Garrett Klugh is the COO of Falk Ventures, the venture capital arm for the family office of legendary sports agent, David Falk. Garrett is also the co-founder of Huddle Sports Partners, a high-touch sport-tech advisory firm. Garrett formerly served as the Managing Director of STAR Angel Network, providing professional athletes access to early-stage investment opportunities. Prior to STAR, Garrett worked for the US Olympic Committee during the Beijing and London Olympic and Paralympic Games. A six-time US National Rowing Team member, World Champion, and Olympian (2004), Garrett holds an MBA from George Washington University and an undergraduate degree from San Diego State University.

The Chinese bamboo plant takes 10 years to grow 6 inches. It then grows 10 feet in six months. How do you see it? Did the plant grow 10 feet in six months or 10 feet and six inches in 10 years and six months?

Through trial and error, not only thinking and over-thinking ideas but doing. In my 7-8 years of experience as an entrepreneur, I made many mistakes, but I ended up better after all. In my opinion mindset and beliefs are essential to succeed in the end.

Besides my work, as a founder and owner of three companies, I am a performance psychologist. I always want to know the why, and I don’t stop until you answer the question yourself. I combine my practical knowledge with theoretical foundations to come up with something that is evidence-based.

We can learn from other businesses and markets, If you open up they will.

Think ahead, embrace the why and sustainability will be the effect.

I am fortunate to work with a portfolio of companies from the international sports media & technology industry, by supporting them reach their commercial potential.

A seasoned business leader with 16+ yrs of progressive experience in leveraging solution consulting & program management to Fortune 1000 clients, in the FMCG, Hi-Tech, Sports & Media vertical. Experienced with tech-startups across Sports, Healthcare, Hospitality & Media verticals. Have assisted over 80 technology startups with go-to-market strategy & thriving operational efficiency.

While my Head is in Technology, my Heart is in Sports… Sport is an integral part of my life. From being a competitive athlete to a game-changer in #SportsBusiness. Continuously working on building “Sport-as-a-Brand” through Talent Representation, Brand Marketing & Positioning Strategy, Commercialisation of Sports using Fan Engagement, Smart Connected Arena & Sports Development & CSR.

Sports is my greatest teacher, and it has taught me one important thing: “You can’t put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the further you get…”

Working on “CxO-as-a-Service” model in Sportertainment, Technology & Management Consulting areas towards Brand Marketing, Business Strategy & CSR

Champions keep playing until they get it right.. and hence More I Play… More I Learn!!!

Ian Seltzer is currently the lead for Business Development at Pierce Yates Ventures, where he has developed eSports, media, entertainment, sports betting and AI verticals for early-stage investment. Previously, he led Content & Business Development for Rogue Sports, one of the top-ranked eSports teams in the world. He has worked at Hulu, Vuguru (Michael Eisner’s digital studio), and Paramount Digital Entertainment covering content creation, licensing, distribution and digital marketing. While there he developed, licensed and launched 30 original titles for TV, film and the web in over 110 countries worldwide. Ian graduated with a BA in History from the University of Pennsylvania and subsequently earned an MS with Merit in Media and Communications from the London School of Economics with a research focus on monetizing streaming media content in the U.S.

I’m an experienced Manager taking a demonstrated history in (High Performance) sport as a former professional athlete, coach, and senior management into my current role as Business Manager for Strategy Hubb working predominantly with startups. Strong networking, fundraising, people management, and communication skills.

Working as the digital marketing and sales manager.

Ishveen Anand is the founder and CEO of OpenSponsorship is the largest Sports Sponsorship marketplace, covering over 150 sports and 6,000 professional athletes, teams and events. Having completed over 3,000 deals, OpenSponsorship provides brands with its software-enabled sponsorship tools that are powered by AI, Google Analytics, IBM Watson, Shopify integrations, APIs and ROI tracking. Ishveen, is a British native who graduated from Oxford University, she was on the Forbes 30 Under 30 2015 Sports List, and has been featured in Entrepreneur, Forbes, Fortune, NASDAQ Private Business, Sports Business Daily, SportsTechie Elle, ISPO and other publicans. Prior to starting OpenSponsorship, she was a sports agent working with top teams and federations such as Mumbai Indians, Tottenham Hotspur, ICC, FIH and brands such as Hero MotoCorp, Mastercard and Castrol.

14 years experience empowering sustainable growth for tech-oriented business in 9 Countries in EMEA and South America.

Francisco demonstrated history of breaking even start-up projects and Corporate business in specializing in different ICT sub-sectors: E-Commerce, TechFood, Gaming, Real Estate Platforms, FinTech, BI and Online Media.

Venues, Stadium & Major Sporting Events Expert

Working in various capacities for the last 8 years to innovate Sports Tech, rehabilitation and wellness through wearable. Partially involved in a green initiative towards zero carbon footprint future cities and energy management systems. To achieve this, innovations and startups are the future and Data Science is the wisdom behind it.

As VP, Business Development, Jahon is responsible for developing strategies for attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) to Qatar through the QFC platform (Qatar Financial Center) and forging cooperation with investment, trade and business representatives of foreign governments. Jahon Responsible for attracting international and local firms, private partners, family offices and associations to the QFC platform for starting and running a business in Qatar and from Qatar. At work, Jahon deals with investment promotion, economic development, fan of tech & startup, interested in entrepreneurship and confident at public speaking.

Innovative ideas and solution for Masses which motivates me to keep striding ahead and bring the latest for the masses. I have been looking forward keenly in the sports industry from 2 years and now assess it as the hottest growing market with immense opportunity of growth and development. I have been associated with BASICX to transform the ideas of sports in an easy form to locale of the grassroots. Marketing the product in the right direction to ascertain the right value to investors is my key expertise.

Graduated in Electrical Engineering and MBA (Strategy). Founded two company one is for R&D services another for IoT.

For the last 25 years, I have been venture building and investing in early-stage startups and scale-ups, whilst also advising startups at various levels as well as mentoring across various accelerator and incubator programs. My passion is building new meaningful and enduring technology companies and over the years I have designed groundbreaking & award-winning technologies in FinTech, Automotive, IoT/Wearables, with three successful company exits.

I am genuinely passionate about supporting entrepreneurs in any way I can, creating stories that bring alive the power of tech startups and along my journey across 4 different continents, I have been privileged to have worked with some amazing and brilliant people. Joining Qatar SportTech as a mentor is a pleasure for me because it’s a sector I know extremely well from being involved in sports from a very young age but also as I have a very exciting tech startup in this space that will disrupt the status quo over time. However, it’s my collective experience and passion for building startups that excites me to be involved.

Technology is certainly impacting the world of sports and as mentioned before I have a tech startup in this space which is very exciting and will definitely disrupt the status quo over time. However the advances in technology have had a profound impact on sport such as analysis of sport performance and enabling coaches to greatly improve the quality of feedback to players/athletes, increasing accuracy in time measurements of sport performance, enabling referees, umpires and sport officials to make better decisions on rule infringements, improvements in the design of sport equipment and apparel as well as providing spectators with better viewing of sport performance. Sport is now a business with so much at stake!

Most and foremost is for them to know that I’m available at any time during their journey. They will definitely get to witness my passion, energy, and commitment for helping them get their ventures off the ground. My support will also be focused on helping them with understanding customer experience, design thinking, visual storytelling, the art of creative pitching, how to present themselves and understanding what investors really look for in founders, last but not least their vision meaning their future scalability.

I am your change agent and my heart is on fire for the most challenging sports applications in the world. I have started numerous companies, some were a brilliant success, while others crashed. I enjoy strategic planning, product development, financial analysis, as well as, communicating (storytelling) the significance of innovation to the sports industry. I understand very technical engineering speak and the hype often involved with marketing. I’m confident that my entrepreneurial mindset with an outstanding organizational and instinctive eye for leadership focused on your technology or your people, will add to your startup culture. Businesses appreciate my innovative infectious personality dedicated to helping teams achieve success – are you the dream team?

Startup and technology specialist, Sara’s expertise lies in private company transactions and growth strategies. Sara is currently advising family-offices and financial institutions on private technology investments. Previously, as investment manager at Leap Ventures (a venture capital firm investing in Europe and the Middle East), she oversaw the entire investment process of two funds and worked on transactions from deal sourcing to portfolio management. Prior to that Sara worked as associate director at Endeavor, where she handled the selection and services program for high-impact businesses.

MBA from Mannheim Business School in Germany and an undergraduate degree in Electronics and Telecommunication from Pt. R.S. University in India Owing to my extensive experience of working with different assets (clubs and tournaments) across countries and continents on a multitude of problems (commercial, marketing, financial, operational), I can support startups in understanding how different assets think, how can they pitch and navigate different stakeholder expectations. I can further support in terms of product improvement, shaping business models for assets, creating a promotional strategy to gain traction, all of which impact the funding prospectstechnology. Worked globally across Europe (Germany, Spain, UK, France, Sweden, Hungary, etc.) and Asia (India and China). 6 years of experience at Lagardère across sports (football, tennis, golf, eSports, etc.) and entertainment (concerts, festivals, family events, etc.) projects

Snapshot of responsibilities:

• Commercial strategy development (product, pricing, KPIs definition, reporting framework, etc.) and implementation across projects ranging from ticketing, hospitality, and sponsorship, F&B, corporate events, etc.
• Cross-channel marketing strategy development (product innovation, content, communication, and customer management) and implementation across projects ranging from fan engagement to digitalization to internationalization, etc.
• Financial strategy development with CXO’s across topics ranging from long term business planning to due diligence to stadium financing to new business development etc.
• Operational strategy development (event, F&B, facilities management, etc.) and implementation across stadiums such as Groupama arena (24,000 seats) in Germany, Anoeta Stadium (42,000 seats) in Spain, etc. and multifunctional arenas such as Friendsarena (65,000 seats) in Sweden
• Driving innovation via strategic partnerships (LiveNation, PMY Capital, etc.) and customizing solutions for Lagardère universe by working closely with the product (sponsorship innovation), sales, digital incl. analytics, new sports (eSports) teams

I’m a a SportsTech / FitTech entrepreneur since 2017. I founded SOLOS in 2017 in Munich – a digital fitness mirror that measures the movements from distance and shows on the mirror surface if the users are training right or wrong. SOLOS raised high six-digit investment, won ISPO & FIBO (3x nominee) awards, participated in 4 accelerators, and applied for several patents. I gained experience in the areas of FitTech / SportsTech, B2B and B2B2C, Software-Hardware product development, go-to-market strategy, MVP, financing, and M&A, product-market-fit, Business Development and cooperation with large corporations. Furthermore, I have a broad network in the fitness industry as well as the startup/investor ecosystem of UnternehmerTUM, ESA BIC, and Telefonica Open Innovation Hub – Wayra. I’m based in Munich and looking forward to supporting the entrepreneurs and shape the future of sports technology. 

As a Director at OneFootball, Tom is leading benchmark setting projects within a mobile first, digital only environment. With more than 50 million active users per season globally, Onefootball is the most popular digital media platform for the new generation of football fans. Tom will help our start-ups with his unique expertise along digital businesses, but also with access to his high level network in the global sports industry. 

I’m an Australian Chartered Accountant with considerable experience working for leading financial investment firms across Australia, the UK and the Middle East. These firms include ADIA, Apollo, Citi and CBRE in various capacities. I also am a lifelong sports fan having played many sports including cricket, tennis, golf and soccer amongst others.

Mazin serves as Portfolio Impact Lead at IDO Investments. Prior to that, Mazin was at Oman’s largest sovereign wealth fund, State General Reserve Fund, where he worked on sourcing, analysing and closing deals in the Private Equity department, as well as develop the local angle for PE deals. Mazin also occupies the role of Non-Executive Director at Oman Energy Development, a greenfield renewable energy developer and IPP in the Sultanate. Mazin is a Harvard Business School (USA) accredited Private Equity & Venture Capital professional and hold a Bachelor of Business degree from Bond University (Australia) and a Master of Science degree in International Business & Entrepreneurship from Kingston Business School (London, UK), where he also developed an internationalisation strategy for a MedTech startup, and mentored founders with their business. In addition to his professional memberships, Mazin is a Global Shaper, an initiative by the World Economic Forum which recognises young leaders who catalyse projects of high value in their communities to create a global shared value.

Jeff Seltzer, Managing Partner of Pierce Yates Ventures, has nearly 40 years of experience developing new businesses and products across the global capital markets as well as advising entrepreneurs, corporations and governments.

Pierce Yates provides early-stage funding and advice to emerging companies with a focus on the FinTech and SportsTech verticals. Jeff is on the board of directors/advisory boards of Kasisto, Rogue Sports, New York Angels, GameCo, Motus, ResonanceX and REDD Intelligence. He is also a Mentor at the Barclays/Fintech Accelerator, Startup Bootcamp Fintech and Cyber, Qatar Sports Tech and Parallel 18.

Jeff has extensive experience in the sports business. He is one of the first investors in GameCo (an innovator in esports which is bringing the world’s first skill-based video game gambling machines to the casino floor), Sports Technologies (one of the first websites dedicated to fantasy sports), Rogue Sports (competing globally in multiple esports games), Tifosy (a specialized platform connecting sports teams and investors globally), KonekTV (a commercial streaming platform bringing sports betting analytics and esports to sports bars) and Motus (a leader in advanced biomechanical analysis and wearable technology for athletes at all levels).

He has served as chairman of governmental economic development agencies and as a director of a sports commission in the New York area and has been involved in efforts to acquire professional sports franchises. As deputy chairman of CIBC World Markets Corp., he created CIBC’s sports co-branding programs with Wayne Gretzky, the New York Rangers and the Women’s Sports Foundation.

He is an active alumnus of the University of Pennsylvania where he is a member of the Board of Overseers of the Penn Libraries and the Advisory Boards of the Wharton Sports Business Initiative and the Huntsman Program in International Studies and Business.

Garrett Klugh is the COO of Falk Ventures, the venture capital arm for the family office of legendary sports agent, David Falk. Garrett is also the co-founder of Huddle Sports Partners, a high-touch sport-tech advisory firm. Garrett formerly served as the Managing Director of STAR Angel Network, providing professional athletes access to early-stage investment opportunities. Prior to STAR, Garrett worked for the US Olympic Committee during the Beijing and London Olympic and Paralympic Games. A six-time US National Rowing Team member, World Champion, and Olympian (2004), Garrett holds an MBA from George Washington University and an undergraduate degree from San Diego State University.

Ian Seltzer is currently the lead for Business Development at Pierce Yates Ventures, where he has developed eSports, media, entertainment, sports betting and AI verticals for early-stage investment. Previously, he led Content & Business Development for Rogue Sports, one of the top-ranked eSports teams in the world. He has worked at Hulu, Vuguru (Michael Eisner’s digital studio), and Paramount Digital Entertainment covering content creation, licensing, distribution and digital marketing. While there he developed, licensed and launched 30 original titles for TV, film and the web in over 110 countries worldwide. Ian graduated with a BA in History from the University of Pennsylvania and subsequently earned an MS with Merit in Media and Communications from the London School of Economics with a research focus on monetizing streaming media content in the U.S.

I’m an experienced Manager taking a demonstrated history in (High Performance) sport as a former professional athlete, coach, and senior management into my current role as Business Manager for Strategy Hubb working predominantly with startups. Strong networking, fundraising, people management, and communication skills.

Ishveen Anand is the founder and CEO of OpenSponsorship is the largest Sports Sponsorship marketplace, covering over 150 sports and 6,000 professional athletes, teams and events. Having completed over 3,000 deals, OpenSponsorship provides brands with its software-enabled sponsorship tools that are powered by AI, Google Analytics, IBM Watson, Shopify integrations, APIs and ROI tracking. Ishveen, is a British native who graduated from Oxford University, she was on the Forbes 30 Under 30 2015 Sports List, and has been featured in Entrepreneur, Forbes, Fortune, NASDAQ Private Business, Sports Business Daily, SportsTechie Elle, ISPO and other publicans. Prior to starting OpenSponsorship, she was a sports agent working with top teams and federations such as Mumbai Indians, Tottenham Hotspur, ICC, FIH and brands such as Hero MotoCorp, Mastercard and Castrol.

14 years experience empowering sustainable growth for tech-oriented business in 9 Countries in EMEA and South America.

Francisco demonstrated history of breaking even start-up projects and Corporate business in specializing in different ICT sub-sectors: E-Commerce, TechFood, Gaming, Real Estate Platforms, FinTech, BI and Online Media.

As the former Head of Design at Startupbootcamp, Robin worked with more than 175 startups worldwide and is well known with the global SBC organisation. He’s helping startups within the program with their pitch and investor decks mostly.

As VP, Business Development, Jahon is responsible for developing strategies for attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) to Qatar through the QFC platform (Qatar Financial Center) and forging cooperation with investment, trade and business representatives of foreign governments. Jahon Responsible for attracting international and local firms, private partners, family offices and associations to the QFC platform for starting and running a business in Qatar and from Qatar. At work, Jahon deals with investment promotion, economic development, fan of tech & startup, interested in entrepreneurship and confident at public speaking.

For the last 25 years, I have been venture building and investing in early-stage startups and scale-ups, whilst also advising startups at various levels as well as mentoring across various accelerator and incubator programs. My passion is building new meaningful and enduring technology companies and over the years I have designed groundbreaking & award-winning technologies in FinTech, Automotive, IoT/Wearables, with three successful company exits.

I am genuinely passionate about supporting entrepreneurs in any way I can, creating stories that bring alive the power of tech startups and along my journey across 4 different continents, I have been privileged to have worked with some amazing and brilliant people. Joining Qatar SportTech as a mentor is a pleasure for me because it’s a sector I know extremely well from being involved in sports from a very young age but also as I have a very exciting tech startup in this space that will disrupt the status quo over time. However, it’s my collective experience and passion for building startups that excites me to be involved.

Technology is certainly impacting the world of sports and as mentioned before I have a tech startup in this space which is very exciting and will definitely disrupt the status quo over time. However the advances in technology have had a profound impact on sport such as analysis of sport performance and enabling coaches to greatly improve the quality of feedback to players/athletes, increasing accuracy in time measurements of sport performance, enabling referees, umpires and sport officials to make better decisions on rule infringements, improvements in the design of sport equipment and apparel as well as providing spectators with better viewing of sport performance. Sport is now a business with so much at stake!

Most and foremost is for them to know that I’m available at any time during their journey. They will definitely get to witness my passion, energy, and commitment for helping them get their ventures off the ground. My support will also be focused on helping them with understanding customer experience, design thinking, visual storytelling, the art of creative pitching, how to present themselves and understanding what investors really look for in founders, last but not least their vision meaning their future scalability.

I am your change agent and my heart is on fire for the most challenging sports applications in the world. I have started numerous companies, some were a brilliant success, while others crashed. I enjoy strategic planning, product development, financial analysis, as well as, communicating (storytelling) the significance of innovation to the sports industry. I understand very technical engineering speak and the hype often involved with marketing. I’m confident that my entrepreneurial mindset with an outstanding organizational and instinctive eye for leadership focused on your technology or your people, will add to your startup culture. Businesses appreciate my innovative infectious personality dedicated to helping teams achieve success – are you the dream team?

I’m a a SportsTech / FitTech entrepreneur since 2017. I founded SOLOS in 2017 in Munich – a digital fitness mirror that measures the movements from distance and shows on the mirror surface if the users are training right or wrong. SOLOS raised high six-digit investment, won ISPO & FIBO (3x nominee) awards, participated in 4 accelerators, and applied for several patents. I gained experience in the areas of FitTech / SportsTech, B2B and B2B2C, Software-Hardware product development, go-to-market strategy, MVP, financing, and M&A, product-market-fit, Business Development and cooperation with large corporations. Furthermore, I have a broad network in the fitness industry as well as the startup/investor ecosystem of UnternehmerTUM, ESA BIC, and Telefonica Open Innovation Hub – Wayra. I’m based in Munich and looking forward to supporting the entrepreneurs and shape the future of sports technology. 

I’m an Australian Chartered Accountant with considerable experience working for leading financial investment firms across Australia, the UK and the Middle East. These firms include ADIA, Apollo, Citi and CBRE in various capacities. I also am a lifelong sports fan having played many sports including cricket, tennis, golf and soccer amongst others.

Jeff Seltzer, Managing Partner of Pierce Yates Ventures, has nearly 40 years of experience developing new businesses and products across the global capital markets as well as advising entrepreneurs, corporations and governments.

Pierce Yates provides early-stage funding and advice to emerging companies with a focus on the FinTech and SportsTech verticals. Jeff is on the board of directors/advisory boards of Kasisto, Rogue Sports, New York Angels, GameCo, Motus, ResonanceX and REDD Intelligence. He is also a Mentor at the Barclays/Fintech Accelerator, Startup Bootcamp Fintech and Cyber, Qatar Sports Tech and Parallel 18.

Jeff has extensive experience in the sports business. He is one of the first investors in GameCo (an innovator in esports which is bringing the world’s first skill-based video game gambling machines to the casino floor), Sports Technologies (one of the first websites dedicated to fantasy sports), Rogue Sports (competing globally in multiple esports games), Tifosy (a specialized platform connecting sports teams and investors globally), KonekTV (a commercial streaming platform bringing sports betting analytics and esports to sports bars) and Motus (a leader in advanced biomechanical analysis and wearable technology for athletes at all levels).

He has served as chairman of governmental economic development agencies and as a director of a sports commission in the New York area and has been involved in efforts to acquire professional sports franchises. As deputy chairman of CIBC World Markets Corp., he created CIBC’s sports co-branding programs with Wayne Gretzky, the New York Rangers and the Women’s Sports Foundation.

He is an active alumnus of the University of Pennsylvania where he is a member of the Board of Overseers of the Penn Libraries and the Advisory Boards of the Wharton Sports Business Initiative and the Huntsman Program in International Studies and Business.

A former professional athlete, coach, and senior management into my current role as a techncial and scientific expert with Qatar Swimming Association. A PhD level in sport science and masters in sport and facility management. Strong networking, people management, and communication skills. 

A large part of my career has been focused on organizational transformation, its people, and the resulting shift in operations (agile) and business models (lean). 

Annie Haeger is a 2016 Olympic Athlete who has 7 years of Marketing/PR experience in both agency and in-house roles. She holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree from Boston College where after graduating, trained full-time as an athlete and worked for a Venture Capital firm in Chicago as a Junior Analyst. Since moving to Vancouver in 2017, she has worked as a Marketing Specialist at a Major League Soccer Team (Vancouver Whitecaps FC) and as a Digital Campaign Manager at Major Tom, a B2B, CGP and eCommerce based marketing agency. She now runs her own firm, specializing in helping small business define their brand identity, create digital sales funnels to attract qualified leads and craft strategic inbound marketing campaigns. Annie excels in in developing full funnel marketing strategies, lead generation and identifying opportunities for growth in crowded markets. She is certified in Facebook Ads, Google Ads, Google Analytics and HubSpot Inbound Marketing. 

MBA from Mannheim Business School in Germany and an undergraduate degree in Electronics and Telecommunication from Pt. R.S. University in India Owing to my extensive experience of working with different assets (clubs and tournaments) across countries and continents on a multitude of problems (commercial, marketing, financial, operational), I can support startups in understanding how different assets think, how can they pitch and navigate different stakeholder expectations. I can further support in terms of product improvement, shaping business models for assets, creating a promotional strategy to gain traction, all of which impact the funding prospectstechnology. Worked globally across Europe (Germany, Spain, UK, France, Sweden, Hungary, etc.) and Asia (India and China). 6 years of experience at Lagardère across sports (football, tennis, golf, eSports, etc.) and entertainment (concerts, festivals, family events, etc.) projects

Snapshot of responsibilities:

• Commercial strategy development (product, pricing, KPIs definition, reporting framework, etc.) and implementation across projects ranging from ticketing, hospitality, and sponsorship, F&B, corporate events, etc.
• Cross-channel marketing strategy development (product innovation, content, communication, and customer management) and implementation across projects ranging from fan engagement to digitalization to internationalization, etc.
• Financial strategy development with CXO’s across topics ranging from long term business planning to due diligence to stadium financing to new business development etc.
• Operational strategy development (event, F&B, facilities management, etc.) and implementation across stadiums such as Groupama arena (24,000 seats) in Germany, Anoeta Stadium (42,000 seats) in Spain, etc. and multifunctional arenas such as Friendsarena (65,000 seats) in Sweden
• Driving innovation via strategic partnerships (LiveNation, PMY Capital, etc.) and customizing solutions for Lagardère universe by working closely with the product (sponsorship innovation), sales, digital incl. analytics, new sports (eSports) teams

I founded a digital health startup incubator and also I was mentor & advisor of more than 200 startups in healthcare and lifestyle area. 

As a Director at OneFootball, Tom is leading benchmark setting projects within a mobile first, digital only environment. With more than 50 million active users per season globally, Onefootball is the most popular digital media platform for the new generation of football fans. Tom will help our start-ups with his unique expertise along digital businesses, but also with access to his high level network in the global sports industry. 

I am fortunate to work with a portfolio of companies from the international sports media & technology industry, by supporting them reach their commercial potential.

A seasoned business leader with 16+ yrs of progressive experience in leveraging solution consulting & program management to Fortune 1000 clients, in the FMCG, Hi-Tech, Sports & Media vertical. Experienced with tech-startups across Sports, Healthcare, Hospitality & Media verticals. Have assisted over 80 technology startups with go-to-market strategy & thriving operational efficiency.

While my Head is in Technology, my Heart is in Sports… Sport is an integral part of my life. From being a competitive athlete to a game-changer in #SportsBusiness. Continuously working on building “Sport-as-a-Brand” through Talent Representation, Brand Marketing & Positioning Strategy, Commercialisation of Sports using Fan Engagement, Smart Connected Arena & Sports Development & CSR.

Sports is my greatest teacher, and it has taught me one important thing: “You can’t put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the further you get…”

Working on “CxO-as-a-Service” model in Sportertainment, Technology & Management Consulting areas towards Brand Marketing, Business Strategy & CSR

Champions keep playing until they get it right.. and hence More I Play… More I Learn!!!

Through my company Bullpen Media, I publish conversations with sports startup founders to get closer insights into how they are impacting the sporting ecosystem. My mission is to create original editorial, authentic storytelling, and bespoke communications.

Digital strategy, branding, and design for sports and outdoors.

Ian Seltzer is currently the lead for Business Development at Pierce Yates Ventures, where he has developed eSports, media, entertainment, sports betting and AI verticals for early-stage investment. Previously, he led Content & Business Development for Rogue Sports, one of the top-ranked eSports teams in the world. He has worked at Hulu, Vuguru (Michael Eisner’s digital studio), and Paramount Digital Entertainment covering content creation, licensing, distribution and digital marketing. While there he developed, licensed and launched 30 original titles for TV, film and the web in over 110 countries worldwide. Ian graduated with a BA in History from the University of Pennsylvania and subsequently earned an MS with Merit in Media and Communications from the London School of Economics with a research focus on monetizing streaming media content in the U.S.

Working as the digital marketing and sales manager.

Ishveen Anand is the founder and CEO of OpenSponsorship is the largest Sports Sponsorship marketplace, covering over 150 sports and 6,000 professional athletes, teams and events. Having completed over 3,000 deals, OpenSponsorship provides brands with its software-enabled sponsorship tools that are powered by AI, Google Analytics, IBM Watson, Shopify integrations, APIs and ROI tracking. Ishveen, is a British native who graduated from Oxford University, she was on the Forbes 30 Under 30 2015 Sports List, and has been featured in Entrepreneur, Forbes, Fortune, NASDAQ Private Business, Sports Business Daily, SportsTechie Elle, ISPO and other publicans. Prior to starting OpenSponsorship, she was a sports agent working with top teams and federations such as Mumbai Indians, Tottenham Hotspur, ICC, FIH and brands such as Hero MotoCorp, Mastercard and Castrol.

14 years experience empowering sustainable growth for tech-oriented business in 9 Countries in EMEA and South America.

Francisco demonstrated history of breaking even start-up projects and Corporate business in specializing in different ICT sub-sectors: E-Commerce, TechFood, Gaming, Real Estate Platforms, FinTech, BI and Online Media.

As VP, Business Development, Jahon is responsible for developing strategies for attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) to Qatar through the QFC platform (Qatar Financial Center) and forging cooperation with investment, trade and business representatives of foreign governments. Jahon Responsible for attracting international and local firms, private partners, family offices and associations to the QFC platform for starting and running a business in Qatar and from Qatar. At work, Jahon deals with investment promotion, economic development, fan of tech & startup, interested in entrepreneurship and confident at public speaking.

Innovative ideas and solution for Masses which motivates me to keep striding ahead and bring the latest for the masses. I have been looking forward keenly in the sports industry from 2 years and now assess it as the hottest growing market with immense opportunity of growth and development. I have been associated with BASICX to transform the ideas of sports in an easy form to locale of the grassroots. Marketing the product in the right direction to ascertain the right value to investors is my key expertise.

For the last 25 years, I have been venture building and investing in early-stage startups and scale-ups, whilst also advising startups at various levels as well as mentoring across various accelerator and incubator programs. My passion is building new meaningful and enduring technology companies and over the years I have designed groundbreaking & award-winning technologies in FinTech, Automotive, IoT/Wearables, with three successful company exits.

I am genuinely passionate about supporting entrepreneurs in any way I can, creating stories that bring alive the power of tech startups and along my journey across 4 different continents, I have been privileged to have worked with some amazing and brilliant people. Joining Qatar SportTech as a mentor is a pleasure for me because it’s a sector I know extremely well from being involved in sports from a very young age but also as I have a very exciting tech startup in this space that will disrupt the status quo over time. However, it’s my collective experience and passion for building startups that excites me to be involved.

Technology is certainly impacting the world of sports and as mentioned before I have a tech startup in this space which is very exciting and will definitely disrupt the status quo over time. However the advances in technology have had a profound impact on sport such as analysis of sport performance and enabling coaches to greatly improve the quality of feedback to players/athletes, increasing accuracy in time measurements of sport performance, enabling referees, umpires and sport officials to make better decisions on rule infringements, improvements in the design of sport equipment and apparel as well as providing spectators with better viewing of sport performance. Sport is now a business with so much at stake!

Most and foremost is for them to know that I’m available at any time during their journey. They will definitely get to witness my passion, energy, and commitment for helping them get their ventures off the ground. My support will also be focused on helping them with understanding customer experience, design thinking, visual storytelling, the art of creative pitching, how to present themselves and understanding what investors really look for in founders, last but not least their vision meaning their future scalability.

I like to call myself a globetrotter, I moved from country to country in my youth which taught me English, French, Portuguese, Arabic, and Spanish. I picked up a basketball at the age 6 while playing against my older brother Mazen, and my passion was cemented at 12 when I played three years at the Wehda Club in Tripoli, Libya. Later I pursued careers in both basketball and marketing, including playing for the Flamengo Basketball Club in Rio de Janeiro and graduating with honors from the John Molson School of Business.

Some of my previous work included projects for the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB), I led the daily content distribution strategy for social media and delivery of video content for broadcasters. Currently, I am working as the digital projects manager for the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) leading the creation of new digital products and event-specific products.”

I am your change agent and my heart is on fire for the most challenging sports applications in the world. I have started numerous companies, some were a brilliant success, while others crashed. I enjoy strategic planning, product development, financial analysis, as well as, communicating (storytelling) the significance of innovation to the sports industry. I understand very technical engineering speak and the hype often involved with marketing. I’m confident that my entrepreneurial mindset with an outstanding organizational and instinctive eye for leadership focused on your technology or your people, will add to your startup culture. Businesses appreciate my innovative infectious personality dedicated to helping teams achieve success – are you the dream team?

Startup and technology specialist, Sara’s expertise lies in private company transactions and growth strategies. Sara is currently advising family-offices and financial institutions on private technology investments. Previously, as investment manager at Leap Ventures (a venture capital firm investing in Europe and the Middle East), she oversaw the entire investment process of two funds and worked on transactions from deal sourcing to portfolio management. Prior to that Sara worked as associate director at Endeavor, where she handled the selection and services program for high-impact businesses.

MBA from Mannheim Business School in Germany and an undergraduate degree in Electronics and Telecommunication from Pt. R.S. University in India Owing to my extensive experience of working with different assets (clubs and tournaments) across countries and continents on a multitude of problems (commercial, marketing, financial, operational), I can support startups in understanding how different assets think, how can they pitch and navigate different stakeholder expectations. I can further support in terms of product improvement, shaping business models for assets, creating a promotional strategy to gain traction, all of which impact the funding prospectstechnology. Worked globally across Europe (Germany, Spain, UK, France, Sweden, Hungary, etc.) and Asia (India and China). 6 years of experience at Lagardère across sports (football, tennis, golf, eSports, etc.) and entertainment (concerts, festivals, family events, etc.) projects

Snapshot of responsibilities:

• Commercial strategy development (product, pricing, KPIs definition, reporting framework, etc.) and implementation across projects ranging from ticketing, hospitality, and sponsorship, F&B, corporate events, etc.
• Cross-channel marketing strategy development (product innovation, content, communication, and customer management) and implementation across projects ranging from fan engagement to digitalization to internationalization, etc.
• Financial strategy development with CXO’s across topics ranging from long term business planning to due diligence to stadium financing to new business development etc.
• Operational strategy development (event, F&B, facilities management, etc.) and implementation across stadiums such as Groupama arena (24,000 seats) in Germany, Anoeta Stadium (42,000 seats) in Spain, etc. and multifunctional arenas such as Friendsarena (65,000 seats) in Sweden
• Driving innovation via strategic partnerships (LiveNation, PMY Capital, etc.) and customizing solutions for Lagardère universe by working closely with the product (sponsorship innovation), sales, digital incl. analytics, new sports (eSports) teams

I’m a a SportsTech / FitTech entrepreneur since 2017. I founded SOLOS in 2017 in Munich – a digital fitness mirror that measures the movements from distance and shows on the mirror surface if the users are training right or wrong. SOLOS raised high six-digit investment, won ISPO & FIBO (3x nominee) awards, participated in 4 accelerators, and applied for several patents. I gained experience in the areas of FitTech / SportsTech, B2B and B2B2C, Software-Hardware product development, go-to-market strategy, MVP, financing, and M&A, product-market-fit, Business Development and cooperation with large corporations. Furthermore, I have a broad network in the fitness industry as well as the startup/investor ecosystem of UnternehmerTUM, ESA BIC, and Telefonica Open Innovation Hub – Wayra. I’m based in Munich and looking forward to supporting the entrepreneurs and shape the future of sports technology. 

As a Director at OneFootball, Tom is leading benchmark setting projects within a mobile first, digital only environment. With more than 50 million active users per season globally, Onefootball is the most popular digital media platform for the new generation of football fans. Tom will help our start-ups with his unique expertise along digital businesses, but also with access to his high level network in the global sports industry. 

Professor Monèm Jemni is a well-established and one of the world leading authorities in Sport and Exercise Science with 23 years career between France, the USA, Qatar, Germany and mostly in the UK. He undertook cutting edge research and published over 150 manuscripts including original research, textbooks and conference abstracts. Active member in several scientific and academic societies. He acted and still a reviewer and a mentor for several projects such: Challenge 22, The Stars of Science TV show, EU tempus and Horizon programs.

He is currently a consultant and tutor at the University of Cambridge, UK and Chair of the ISAFA (International Science And Football Association www.isafa.info). He is fervent to provide quality-controlled programs that socially and academically impact individuals and key stakeholders. Expert in planning, budgeting, negotiating and leading of small to big international projects from conception to deliveries.

Monèm was the Chair of the Qatar Olympic Committee Sport Science Program based at Qatar University from 2014-18. He was also the Director of the Sport Science with Professional Football Coaching BSc Degree at the University of Greenwich, London (2008-12).

He is a specialist in the optimisation of human health and performance, using a cross-disciplinary projects that engage local government, exercise scientists, nutritionists, health specialists and the fitness industry. He provided services to Olympic Winners and professional football clubs in the UK, such as Arsenal FC, Charlton Athletic, West Ham United, Crystal Palace and Gillingham FC. 

Over 10 years of experience in manufacturing, quality, and advance material processing. Co-founded a start up in the field of smart wearable medical devices. Hamed has knowledge and experience in various stages of product life cycle from early concept design up to mass production and manufacturing optimization for increased efficiency.

Jeff Seltzer, Managing Partner of Pierce Yates Ventures, has nearly 40 years of experience developing new businesses and products across the global capital markets as well as advising entrepreneurs, corporations and governments.

Pierce Yates provides early-stage funding and advice to emerging companies with a focus on the FinTech and SportsTech verticals. Jeff is on the board of directors/advisory boards of Kasisto, Rogue Sports, New York Angels, GameCo, Motus, ResonanceX and REDD Intelligence. He is also a Mentor at the Barclays/Fintech Accelerator, Startup Bootcamp Fintech and Cyber, Qatar Sports Tech and Parallel 18.

Jeff has extensive experience in the sports business. He is one of the first investors in GameCo (an innovator in esports which is bringing the world’s first skill-based video game gambling machines to the casino floor), Sports Technologies (one of the first websites dedicated to fantasy sports), Rogue Sports (competing globally in multiple esports games), Tifosy (a specialized platform connecting sports teams and investors globally), KonekTV (a commercial streaming platform bringing sports betting analytics and esports to sports bars) and Motus (a leader in advanced biomechanical analysis and wearable technology for athletes at all levels).

He has served as chairman of governmental economic development agencies and as a director of a sports commission in the New York area and has been involved in efforts to acquire professional sports franchises. As deputy chairman of CIBC World Markets Corp., he created CIBC’s sports co-branding programs with Wayne Gretzky, the New York Rangers and the Women’s Sports Foundation.

He is an active alumnus of the University of Pennsylvania where he is a member of the Board of Overseers of the Penn Libraries and the Advisory Boards of the Wharton Sports Business Initiative and the Huntsman Program in International Studies and Business.

Garrett Klugh is the COO of Falk Ventures, the venture capital arm for the family office of legendary sports agent, David Falk. Garrett is also the co-founder of Huddle Sports Partners, a high-touch sport-tech advisory firm. Garrett formerly served as the Managing Director of STAR Angel Network, providing professional athletes access to early-stage investment opportunities. Prior to STAR, Garrett worked for the US Olympic Committee during the Beijing and London Olympic and Paralympic Games. A six-time US National Rowing Team member, World Champion, and Olympian (2004), Garrett holds an MBA from George Washington University and an undergraduate degree from San Diego State University.

The Chinese bamboo plant takes 10 years to grow 6 inches. It then grows 10 feet in six months. How do you see it? Did the plant grow 10 feet in six months or 10 feet and six inches in 10 years and six months?

Through trial and error, not only thinking and over-thinking ideas but doing. In my 7-8 years of experience as an entrepreneur, I made many mistakes, but I ended up better after all. In my opinion mindset and beliefs are essential to succeed in the end.

Besides my work, as a founder and owner of three companies, I am a performance psychologist. I always want to know the why, and I don’t stop until you answer the question yourself. I combine my practical knowledge with theoretical foundations to come up with something that is evidence-based.

We can learn from other businesses and markets, If you open up they will.

Think ahead, embrace the why and sustainability will be the effect.

Digital strategy, branding, and design for sports and outdoors.

I’m an experienced Manager taking a demonstrated history in (High Performance) sport as a former professional athlete, coach, and senior management into my current role as Business Manager for Strategy Hubb working predominantly with startups. Strong networking, fundraising, people management, and communication skills.

Ishveen Anand is the founder and CEO of OpenSponsorship is the largest Sports Sponsorship marketplace, covering over 150 sports and 6,000 professional athletes, teams and events. Having completed over 3,000 deals, OpenSponsorship provides brands with its software-enabled sponsorship tools that are powered by AI, Google Analytics, IBM Watson, Shopify integrations, APIs and ROI tracking. Ishveen, is a British native who graduated from Oxford University, she was on the Forbes 30 Under 30 2015 Sports List, and has been featured in Entrepreneur, Forbes, Fortune, NASDAQ Private Business, Sports Business Daily, SportsTechie Elle, ISPO and other publicans. Prior to starting OpenSponsorship, she was a sports agent working with top teams and federations such as Mumbai Indians, Tottenham Hotspur, ICC, FIH and brands such as Hero MotoCorp, Mastercard and Castrol.

14 years experience empowering sustainable growth for tech-oriented business in 9 Countries in EMEA and South America.

Francisco demonstrated history of breaking even start-up projects and Corporate business in specializing in different ICT sub-sectors: E-Commerce, TechFood, Gaming, Real Estate Platforms, FinTech, BI and Online Media.

As the former Head of Design at Startupbootcamp, Robin worked with more than 175 startups worldwide and is well known with the global SBC organisation. He’s helping startups within the program with their pitch and investor decks mostly.

As VP, Business Development, Jahon is responsible for developing strategies for attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) to Qatar through the QFC platform (Qatar Financial Center) and forging cooperation with investment, trade and business representatives of foreign governments. Jahon Responsible for attracting international and local firms, private partners, family offices and associations to the QFC platform for starting and running a business in Qatar and from Qatar. At work, Jahon deals with investment promotion, economic development, fan of tech & startup, interested in entrepreneurship and confident at public speaking.

Innovative ideas and solution for Masses which motivates me to keep striding ahead and bring the latest for the masses. I have been looking forward keenly in the sports industry from 2 years and now assess it as the hottest growing market with immense opportunity of growth and development. I have been associated with BASICX to transform the ideas of sports in an easy form to locale of the grassroots. Marketing the product in the right direction to ascertain the right value to investors is my key expertise.

For the last 25 years, I have been venture building and investing in early-stage startups and scale-ups, whilst also advising startups at various levels as well as mentoring across various accelerator and incubator programs. My passion is building new meaningful and enduring technology companies and over the years I have designed groundbreaking & award-winning technologies in FinTech, Automotive, IoT/Wearables, with three successful company exits.

I am genuinely passionate about supporting entrepreneurs in any way I can, creating stories that bring alive the power of tech startups and along my journey across 4 different continents, I have been privileged to have worked with some amazing and brilliant people. Joining Qatar SportTech as a mentor is a pleasure for me because it’s a sector I know extremely well from being involved in sports from a very young age but also as I have a very exciting tech startup in this space that will disrupt the status quo over time. However, it’s my collective experience and passion for building startups that excites me to be involved.

Technology is certainly impacting the world of sports and as mentioned before I have a tech startup in this space which is very exciting and will definitely disrupt the status quo over time. However the advances in technology have had a profound impact on sport such as analysis of sport performance and enabling coaches to greatly improve the quality of feedback to players/athletes, increasing accuracy in time measurements of sport performance, enabling referees, umpires and sport officials to make better decisions on rule infringements, improvements in the design of sport equipment and apparel as well as providing spectators with better viewing of sport performance. Sport is now a business with so much at stake!

Most and foremost is for them to know that I’m available at any time during their journey. They will definitely get to witness my passion, energy, and commitment for helping them get their ventures off the ground. My support will also be focused on helping them with understanding customer experience, design thinking, visual storytelling, the art of creative pitching, how to present themselves and understanding what investors really look for in founders, last but not least their vision meaning their future scalability.

A former professional athlete, coach, and senior management into my current role as a techncial and scientific expert with Qatar Swimming Association. A PhD level in sport science and masters in sport and facility management. Strong networking, people management, and communication skills. 

A large part of my career has been focused on organizational transformation, its people, and the resulting shift in operations (agile) and business models (lean). 

I’m a a SportsTech / FitTech entrepreneur since 2017. I founded SOLOS in 2017 in Munich – a digital fitness mirror that measures the movements from distance and shows on the mirror surface if the users are training right or wrong. SOLOS raised high six-digit investment, won ISPO & FIBO (3x nominee) awards, participated in 4 accelerators, and applied for several patents. I gained experience in the areas of FitTech / SportsTech, B2B and B2B2C, Software-Hardware product development, go-to-market strategy, MVP, financing, and M&A, product-market-fit, Business Development and cooperation with large corporations. Furthermore, I have a broad network in the fitness industry as well as the startup/investor ecosystem of UnternehmerTUM, ESA BIC, and Telefonica Open Innovation Hub – Wayra. I’m based in Munich and looking forward to supporting the entrepreneurs and shape the future of sports technology. 

I founded a digital health startup incubator and also I was mentor & advisor of more than 200 startups in healthcare and lifestyle area. 

As a Director at OneFootball, Tom is leading benchmark setting projects within a mobile first, digital only environment. With more than 50 million active users per season globally, Onefootball is the most popular digital media platform for the new generation of football fans. Tom will help our start-ups with his unique expertise along digital businesses, but also with access to his high level network in the global sports industry. 

Professor Monèm Jemni is a well-established and one of the world leading authorities in Sport and Exercise Science with 23 years career between France, the USA, Qatar, Germany and mostly in the UK. He undertook cutting edge research and published over 150 manuscripts including original research, textbooks and conference abstracts. Active member in several scientific and academic societies. He acted and still a reviewer and a mentor for several projects such: Challenge 22, The Stars of Science TV show, EU tempus and Horizon programs.

He is currently a consultant and tutor at the University of Cambridge, UK and Chair of the ISAFA (International Science And Football Association www.isafa.info). He is fervent to provide quality-controlled programs that socially and academically impact individuals and key stakeholders. Expert in planning, budgeting, negotiating and leading of small to big international projects from conception to deliveries.

Monèm was the Chair of the Qatar Olympic Committee Sport Science Program based at Qatar University from 2014-18. He was also the Director of the Sport Science with Professional Football Coaching BSc Degree at the University of Greenwich, London (2008-12).

He is a specialist in the optimisation of human health and performance, using a cross-disciplinary projects that engage local government, exercise scientists, nutritionists, health specialists and the fitness industry. He provided services to Olympic Winners and professional football clubs in the UK, such as Arsenal FC, Charlton Athletic, West Ham United, Crystal Palace and Gillingham FC. 

Over 10 years of experience in manufacturing, quality, and advance material processing. Co-founded a start up in the field of smart wearable medical devices. Hamed has knowledge and experience in various stages of product life cycle from early concept design up to mass production and manufacturing optimization for increased efficiency.

Garrett Klugh is the COO of Falk Ventures, the venture capital arm for the family office of legendary sports agent, David Falk. Garrett is also the co-founder of Huddle Sports Partners, a high-touch sport-tech advisory firm. Garrett formerly served as the Managing Director of STAR Angel Network, providing professional athletes access to early-stage investment opportunities. Prior to STAR, Garrett worked for the US Olympic Committee during the Beijing and London Olympic and Paralympic Games. A six-time US National Rowing Team member, World Champion, and Olympian (2004), Garrett holds an MBA from George Washington University and an undergraduate degree from San Diego State University.

The Chinese bamboo plant takes 10 years to grow 6 inches. It then grows 10 feet in six months. How do you see it? Did the plant grow 10 feet in six months or 10 feet and six inches in 10 years and six months?

Through trial and error, not only thinking and over-thinking ideas but doing. In my 7-8 years of experience as an entrepreneur, I made many mistakes, but I ended up better after all. In my opinion mindset and beliefs are essential to succeed in the end.

Besides my work, as a founder and owner of three companies, I am a performance psychologist. I always want to know the why, and I don’t stop until you answer the question yourself. I combine my practical knowledge with theoretical foundations to come up with something that is evidence-based.

We can learn from other businesses and markets, If you open up they will.

Think ahead, embrace the why and sustainability will be the effect.

I’m an experienced Manager taking a demonstrated history in (High Performance) sport as a former professional athlete, coach, and senior management into my current role as Business Manager for Strategy Hubb working predominantly with startups. Strong networking, fundraising, people management, and communication skills.

Ishveen Anand is the founder and CEO of OpenSponsorship is the largest Sports Sponsorship marketplace, covering over 150 sports and 6,000 professional athletes, teams and events. Having completed over 3,000 deals, OpenSponsorship provides brands with its software-enabled sponsorship tools that are powered by AI, Google Analytics, IBM Watson, Shopify integrations, APIs and ROI tracking. Ishveen, is a British native who graduated from Oxford University, she was on the Forbes 30 Under 30 2015 Sports List, and has been featured in Entrepreneur, Forbes, Fortune, NASDAQ Private Business, Sports Business Daily, SportsTechie Elle, ISPO and other publicans. Prior to starting OpenSponsorship, she was a sports agent working with top teams and federations such as Mumbai Indians, Tottenham Hotspur, ICC, FIH and brands such as Hero MotoCorp, Mastercard and Castrol.

14 years experience empowering sustainable growth for tech-oriented business in 9 Countries in EMEA and South America.

Francisco demonstrated history of breaking even start-up projects and Corporate business in specializing in different ICT sub-sectors: E-Commerce, TechFood, Gaming, Real Estate Platforms, FinTech, BI and Online Media.

As VP, Business Development, Jahon is responsible for developing strategies for attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) to Qatar through the QFC platform (Qatar Financial Center) and forging cooperation with investment, trade and business representatives of foreign governments. Jahon Responsible for attracting international and local firms, private partners, family offices and associations to the QFC platform for starting and running a business in Qatar and from Qatar. At work, Jahon deals with investment promotion, economic development, fan of tech & startup, interested in entrepreneurship and confident at public speaking.

Graduated in Electrical Engineering and MBA (Strategy). Founded two company one is for R&D services another for IoT.

For the last 25 years, I have been venture building and investing in early-stage startups and scale-ups, whilst also advising startups at various levels as well as mentoring across various accelerator and incubator programs. My passion is building new meaningful and enduring technology companies and over the years I have designed groundbreaking & award-winning technologies in FinTech, Automotive, IoT/Wearables, with three successful company exits.

I am genuinely passionate about supporting entrepreneurs in any way I can, creating stories that bring alive the power of tech startups and along my journey across 4 different continents, I have been privileged to have worked with some amazing and brilliant people. Joining Qatar SportTech as a mentor is a pleasure for me because it’s a sector I know extremely well from being involved in sports from a very young age but also as I have a very exciting tech startup in this space that will disrupt the status quo over time. However, it’s my collective experience and passion for building startups that excites me to be involved.

Technology is certainly impacting the world of sports and as mentioned before I have a tech startup in this space which is very exciting and will definitely disrupt the status quo over time. However the advances in technology have had a profound impact on sport such as analysis of sport performance and enabling coaches to greatly improve the quality of feedback to players/athletes, increasing accuracy in time measurements of sport performance, enabling referees, umpires and sport officials to make better decisions on rule infringements, improvements in the design of sport equipment and apparel as well as providing spectators with better viewing of sport performance. Sport is now a business with so much at stake!

Most and foremost is for them to know that I’m available at any time during their journey. They will definitely get to witness my passion, energy, and commitment for helping them get their ventures off the ground. My support will also be focused on helping them with understanding customer experience, design thinking, visual storytelling, the art of creative pitching, how to present themselves and understanding what investors really look for in founders, last but not least their vision meaning their future scalability.

I am your change agent and my heart is on fire for the most challenging sports applications in the world. I have started numerous companies, some were a brilliant success, while others crashed. I enjoy strategic planning, product development, financial analysis, as well as, communicating (storytelling) the significance of innovation to the sports industry. I understand very technical engineering speak and the hype often involved with marketing. I’m confident that my entrepreneurial mindset with an outstanding organizational and instinctive eye for leadership focused on your technology or your people, will add to your startup culture. Businesses appreciate my innovative infectious personality dedicated to helping teams achieve success – are you the dream team?

Startup and technology specialist, Sara’s expertise lies in private company transactions and growth strategies. Sara is currently advising family-offices and financial institutions on private technology investments. Previously, as investment manager at Leap Ventures (a venture capital firm investing in Europe and the Middle East), she oversaw the entire investment process of two funds and worked on transactions from deal sourcing to portfolio management. Prior to that Sara worked as associate director at Endeavor, where she handled the selection and services program for high-impact businesses.

MBA from Mannheim Business School in Germany and an undergraduate degree in Electronics and Telecommunication from Pt. R.S. University in India Owing to my extensive experience of working with different assets (clubs and tournaments) across countries and continents on a multitude of problems (commercial, marketing, financial, operational), I can support startups in understanding how different assets think, how can they pitch and navigate different stakeholder expectations. I can further support in terms of product improvement, shaping business models for assets, creating a promotional strategy to gain traction, all of which impact the funding prospectstechnology. Worked globally across Europe (Germany, Spain, UK, France, Sweden, Hungary, etc.) and Asia (India and China). 6 years of experience at Lagardère across sports (football, tennis, golf, eSports, etc.) and entertainment (concerts, festivals, family events, etc.) projects

Snapshot of responsibilities:

• Commercial strategy development (product, pricing, KPIs definition, reporting framework, etc.) and implementation across projects ranging from ticketing, hospitality, and sponsorship, F&B, corporate events, etc.
• Cross-channel marketing strategy development (product innovation, content, communication, and customer management) and implementation across projects ranging from fan engagement to digitalization to internationalization, etc.
• Financial strategy development with CXO’s across topics ranging from long term business planning to due diligence to stadium financing to new business development etc.
• Operational strategy development (event, F&B, facilities management, etc.) and implementation across stadiums such as Groupama arena (24,000 seats) in Germany, Anoeta Stadium (42,000 seats) in Spain, etc. and multifunctional arenas such as Friendsarena (65,000 seats) in Sweden
• Driving innovation via strategic partnerships (LiveNation, PMY Capital, etc.) and customizing solutions for Lagardère universe by working closely with the product (sponsorship innovation), sales, digital incl. analytics, new sports (eSports) teams

Professor Monèm Jemni is a well-established and one of the world leading authorities in Sport and Exercise Science with 23 years career between France, the USA, Qatar, Germany and mostly in the UK. He undertook cutting edge research and published over 150 manuscripts including original research, textbooks and conference abstracts. Active member in several scientific and academic societies. He acted and still a reviewer and a mentor for several projects such: Challenge 22, The Stars of Science TV show, EU tempus and Horizon programs.

He is currently a consultant and tutor at the University of Cambridge, UK and Chair of the ISAFA (International Science And Football Association www.isafa.info). He is fervent to provide quality-controlled programs that socially and academically impact individuals and key stakeholders. Expert in planning, budgeting, negotiating and leading of small to big international projects from conception to deliveries.

Monèm was the Chair of the Qatar Olympic Committee Sport Science Program based at Qatar University from 2014-18. He was also the Director of the Sport Science with Professional Football Coaching BSc Degree at the University of Greenwich, London (2008-12).

He is a specialist in the optimisation of human health and performance, using a cross-disciplinary projects that engage local government, exercise scientists, nutritionists, health specialists and the fitness industry. He provided services to Olympic Winners and professional football clubs in the UK, such as Arsenal FC, Charlton Athletic, West Ham United, Crystal Palace and Gillingham FC. 

Mazin serves as Portfolio Impact Lead at IDO Investments. Prior to that, Mazin was at Oman’s largest sovereign wealth fund, State General Reserve Fund, where he worked on sourcing, analysing and closing deals in the Private Equity department, as well as develop the local angle for PE deals. Mazin also occupies the role of Non-Executive Director at Oman Energy Development, a greenfield renewable energy developer and IPP in the Sultanate. Mazin is a Harvard Business School (USA) accredited Private Equity & Venture Capital professional and hold a Bachelor of Business degree from Bond University (Australia) and a Master of Science degree in International Business & Entrepreneurship from Kingston Business School (London, UK), where he also developed an internationalisation strategy for a MedTech startup, and mentored founders with their business. In addition to his professional memberships, Mazin is a Global Shaper, an initiative by the World Economic Forum which recognises young leaders who catalyse projects of high value in their communities to create a global shared value.

Garrett Klugh is the COO of Falk Ventures, the venture capital arm for the family office of legendary sports agent, David Falk. Garrett is also the co-founder of Huddle Sports Partners, a high-touch sport-tech advisory firm. Garrett formerly served as the Managing Director of STAR Angel Network, providing professional athletes access to early-stage investment opportunities. Prior to STAR, Garrett worked for the US Olympic Committee during the Beijing and London Olympic and Paralympic Games. A six-time US National Rowing Team member, World Champion, and Olympian (2004), Garrett holds an MBA from George Washington University and an undergraduate degree from San Diego State University.

I’m an experienced Manager taking a demonstrated history in (High Performance) sport as a former professional athlete, coach, and senior management into my current role as Business Manager for Strategy Hubb working predominantly with startups. Strong networking, fundraising, people management, and communication skills.

14 years experience empowering sustainable growth for tech-oriented business in 9 Countries in EMEA and South America.

Francisco demonstrated history of breaking even start-up projects and Corporate business in specializing in different ICT sub-sectors: E-Commerce, TechFood, Gaming, Real Estate Platforms, FinTech, BI and Online Media.

For the last 25 years, I have been venture building and investing in early-stage startups and scale-ups, whilst also advising startups at various levels as well as mentoring across various accelerator and incubator programs. My passion is building new meaningful and enduring technology companies and over the years I have designed groundbreaking & award-winning technologies in FinTech, Automotive, IoT/Wearables, with three successful company exits.

I am genuinely passionate about supporting entrepreneurs in any way I can, creating stories that bring alive the power of tech startups and along my journey across 4 different continents, I have been privileged to have worked with some amazing and brilliant people. Joining Qatar SportTech as a mentor is a pleasure for me because it’s a sector I know extremely well from being involved in sports from a very young age but also as I have a very exciting tech startup in this space that will disrupt the status quo over time. However, it’s my collective experience and passion for building startups that excites me to be involved.

Technology is certainly impacting the world of sports and as mentioned before I have a tech startup in this space which is very exciting and will definitely disrupt the status quo over time. However the advances in technology have had a profound impact on sport such as analysis of sport performance and enabling coaches to greatly improve the quality of feedback to players/athletes, increasing accuracy in time measurements of sport performance, enabling referees, umpires and sport officials to make better decisions on rule infringements, improvements in the design of sport equipment and apparel as well as providing spectators with better viewing of sport performance. Sport is now a business with so much at stake!

Most and foremost is for them to know that I’m available at any time during their journey. They will definitely get to witness my passion, energy, and commitment for helping them get their ventures off the ground. My support will also be focused on helping them with understanding customer experience, design thinking, visual storytelling, the art of creative pitching, how to present themselves and understanding what investors really look for in founders, last but not least their vision meaning their future scalability.

I am your change agent and my heart is on fire for the most challenging sports applications in the world. I have started numerous companies, some were a brilliant success, while others crashed. I enjoy strategic planning, product development, financial analysis, as well as, communicating (storytelling) the significance of innovation to the sports industry. I understand very technical engineering speak and the hype often involved with marketing. I’m confident that my entrepreneurial mindset with an outstanding organizational and instinctive eye for leadership focused on your technology or your people, will add to your startup culture. Businesses appreciate my innovative infectious personality dedicated to helping teams achieve success – are you the dream team?

Over 10 years of experience in manufacturing, quality, and advance material processing. Co-founded a start up in the field of smart wearable medical devices. Hamed has knowledge and experience in various stages of product life cycle from early concept design up to mass production and manufacturing optimization for increased efficiency.

I own and operate a factory in China that specializes in streamlining the processes from development to production and scaling up production. We are looking to mentor startups that are building awesome hardware or physical products. Always feel free to reach out to me. Advice is always free here.

Digital strategy, branding, and design for sports and outdoors.

Ishveen Anand is the founder and CEO of OpenSponsorship is the largest Sports Sponsorship marketplace, covering over 150 sports and 6,000 professional athletes, teams and events. Having completed over 3,000 deals, OpenSponsorship provides brands with its software-enabled sponsorship tools that are powered by AI, Google Analytics, IBM Watson, Shopify integrations, APIs and ROI tracking. Ishveen, is a British native who graduated from Oxford University, she was on the Forbes 30 Under 30 2015 Sports List, and has been featured in Entrepreneur, Forbes, Fortune, NASDAQ Private Business, Sports Business Daily, SportsTechie Elle, ISPO and other publicans. Prior to starting OpenSponsorship, she was a sports agent working with top teams and federations such as Mumbai Indians, Tottenham Hotspur, ICC, FIH and brands such as Hero MotoCorp, Mastercard and Castrol.

14 years experience empowering sustainable growth for tech-oriented business in 9 Countries in EMEA and South America.

Francisco demonstrated history of breaking even start-up projects and Corporate business in specializing in different ICT sub-sectors: E-Commerce, TechFood, Gaming, Real Estate Platforms, FinTech, BI and Online Media.

Peter Ferguson serves as the IBM Innovation Hub Leader, In Doha.

I have been working on product development and manufacturing for the past 10 years. Having founded and scaled a startup myself, I have been through the same challenges any startup goes through. Now I have been working with startups to help develop their initial run and scaling roadmaps as well as organize mold making and manufacturing through my company’s in-house services.

I bring more than 10 years of experience in product development and manufacturing. An approach that would support a technology that pushes boundaries with a manufacturing approach that would do the same in mechanical performance. Every industry has its challenges, sports tech particularly require high performance considering its primary purpose is to push what is humanly possible.

For the last 25 years, I have been venture building and investing in early-stage startups and scale-ups, whilst also advising startups at various levels as well as mentoring across various accelerator and incubator programs. My passion is building new meaningful and enduring technology companies and over the years I have designed groundbreaking & award-winning technologies in FinTech, Automotive, IoT/Wearables, with three successful company exits.

I am genuinely passionate about supporting entrepreneurs in any way I can, creating stories that bring alive the power of tech startups and along my journey across 4 different continents, I have been privileged to have worked with some amazing and brilliant people. Joining Qatar SportTech as a mentor is a pleasure for me because it’s a sector I know extremely well from being involved in sports from a very young age but also as I have a very exciting tech startup in this space that will disrupt the status quo over time. However, it’s my collective experience and passion for building startups that excites me to be involved.

Technology is certainly impacting the world of sports and as mentioned before I have a tech startup in this space which is very exciting and will definitely disrupt the status quo over time. However the advances in technology have had a profound impact on sport such as analysis of sport performance and enabling coaches to greatly improve the quality of feedback to players/athletes, increasing accuracy in time measurements of sport performance, enabling referees, umpires and sport officials to make better decisions on rule infringements, improvements in the design of sport equipment and apparel as well as providing spectators with better viewing of sport performance. Sport is now a business with so much at stake!

Most and foremost is for them to know that I’m available at any time during their journey. They will definitely get to witness my passion, energy, and commitment for helping them get their ventures off the ground. My support will also be focused on helping them with understanding customer experience, design thinking, visual storytelling, the art of creative pitching, how to present themselves and understanding what investors really look for in founders, last but not least their vision meaning their future scalability.

I like to call myself a globetrotter, I moved from country to country in my youth which taught me English, French, Portuguese, Arabic, and Spanish. I picked up a basketball at the age 6 while playing against my older brother Mazen, and my passion was cemented at 12 when I played three years at the Wehda Club in Tripoli, Libya. Later I pursued careers in both basketball and marketing, including playing for the Flamengo Basketball Club in Rio de Janeiro and graduating with honors from the John Molson School of Business.

Some of my previous work included projects for the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB), I led the daily content distribution strategy for social media and delivery of video content for broadcasters. Currently, I am working as the digital projects manager for the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) leading the creation of new digital products and event-specific products.”

I am your change agent and my heart is on fire for the most challenging sports applications in the world. I have started numerous companies, some were a brilliant success, while others crashed. I enjoy strategic planning, product development, financial analysis, as well as, communicating (storytelling) the significance of innovation to the sports industry. I understand very technical engineering speak and the hype often involved with marketing. I’m confident that my entrepreneurial mindset with an outstanding organizational and instinctive eye for leadership focused on your technology or your people, will add to your startup culture. Businesses appreciate my innovative infectious personality dedicated to helping teams achieve success – are you the dream team?

MBA from Mannheim Business School in Germany and an undergraduate degree in Electronics and Telecommunication from Pt. R.S. University in India Owing to my extensive experience of working with different assets (clubs and tournaments) across countries and continents on a multitude of problems (commercial, marketing, financial, operational), I can support startups in understanding how different assets think, how can they pitch and navigate different stakeholder expectations. I can further support in terms of product improvement, shaping business models for assets, creating a promotional strategy to gain traction, all of which impact the funding prospectstechnology. Worked globally across Europe (Germany, Spain, UK, France, Sweden, Hungary, etc.) and Asia (India and China). 6 years of experience at Lagardère across sports (football, tennis, golf, eSports, etc.) and entertainment (concerts, festivals, family events, etc.) projects

Snapshot of responsibilities:

• Commercial strategy development (product, pricing, KPIs definition, reporting framework, etc.) and implementation across projects ranging from ticketing, hospitality, and sponsorship, F&B, corporate events, etc.
• Cross-channel marketing strategy development (product innovation, content, communication, and customer management) and implementation across projects ranging from fan engagement to digitalization to internationalization, etc.
• Financial strategy development with CXO’s across topics ranging from long term business planning to due diligence to stadium financing to new business development etc.
• Operational strategy development (event, F&B, facilities management, etc.) and implementation across stadiums such as Groupama arena (24,000 seats) in Germany, Anoeta Stadium (42,000 seats) in Spain, etc. and multifunctional arenas such as Friendsarena (65,000 seats) in Sweden
• Driving innovation via strategic partnerships (LiveNation, PMY Capital, etc.) and customizing solutions for Lagardère universe by working closely with the product (sponsorship innovation), sales, digital incl. analytics, new sports (eSports) teams

Founder and CEO. Deep experience in the world of Profession Soccer as a Licensed FIFA Agent and youth coach. He worked with Bob Bradley (former USMNT Head Coach) to build his initial pipeline in Egypt. He is the President and Owner of Kora Stars, a sports agency based in San Francisco with a focus on placing international players from Africa, MENA and North America.

As a Director at OneFootball, Tom is leading benchmark setting projects within a mobile first, digital only environment. With more than 50 million active users per season globally, Onefootball is the most popular digital media platform for the new generation of football fans. Tom will help our start-ups with his unique expertise along digital businesses, but also with access to his high level network in the global sports industry. 

Professor Monèm Jemni is a well-established and one of the world leading authorities in Sport and Exercise Science with 23 years career between France, the USA, Qatar, Germany and mostly in the UK. He undertook cutting edge research and published over 150 manuscripts including original research, textbooks and conference abstracts. Active member in several scientific and academic societies. He acted and still a reviewer and a mentor for several projects such: Challenge 22, The Stars of Science TV show, EU tempus and Horizon programs.

He is currently a consultant and tutor at the University of Cambridge, UK and Chair of the ISAFA (International Science And Football Association www.isafa.info). He is fervent to provide quality-controlled programs that socially and academically impact individuals and key stakeholders. Expert in planning, budgeting, negotiating and leading of small to big international projects from conception to deliveries.

Monèm was the Chair of the Qatar Olympic Committee Sport Science Program based at Qatar University from 2014-18. He was also the Director of the Sport Science with Professional Football Coaching BSc Degree at the University of Greenwich, London (2008-12).

He is a specialist in the optimisation of human health and performance, using a cross-disciplinary projects that engage local government, exercise scientists, nutritionists, health specialists and the fitness industry. He provided services to Olympic Winners and professional football clubs in the UK, such as Arsenal FC, Charlton Athletic, West Ham United, Crystal Palace and Gillingham FC. 

Jeff Seltzer, Managing Partner of Pierce Yates Ventures, has nearly 40 years of experience developing new businesses and products across the global capital markets as well as advising entrepreneurs, corporations and governments.

Pierce Yates provides early-stage funding and advice to emerging companies with a focus on the FinTech and SportsTech verticals. Jeff is on the board of directors/advisory boards of Kasisto, Rogue Sports, New York Angels, GameCo, Motus, ResonanceX and REDD Intelligence. He is also a Mentor at the Barclays/Fintech Accelerator, Startup Bootcamp Fintech and Cyber, Qatar Sports Tech and Parallel 18.

Jeff has extensive experience in the sports business. He is one of the first investors in GameCo (an innovator in esports which is bringing the world’s first skill-based video game gambling machines to the casino floor), Sports Technologies (one of the first websites dedicated to fantasy sports), Rogue Sports (competing globally in multiple esports games), Tifosy (a specialized platform connecting sports teams and investors globally), KonekTV (a commercial streaming platform bringing sports betting analytics and esports to sports bars) and Motus (a leader in advanced biomechanical analysis and wearable technology for athletes at all levels).

He has served as chairman of governmental economic development agencies and as a director of a sports commission in the New York area and has been involved in efforts to acquire professional sports franchises. As deputy chairman of CIBC World Markets Corp., he created CIBC’s sports co-branding programs with Wayne Gretzky, the New York Rangers and the Women’s Sports Foundation.

He is an active alumnus of the University of Pennsylvania where he is a member of the Board of Overseers of the Penn Libraries and the Advisory Boards of the Wharton Sports Business Initiative and the Huntsman Program in International Studies and Business.

Ian Seltzer is currently the lead for Business Development at Pierce Yates Ventures, where he has developed eSports, media, entertainment, sports betting and AI verticals for early-stage investment. Previously, he led Content & Business Development for Rogue Sports, one of the top-ranked eSports teams in the world. He has worked at Hulu, Vuguru (Michael Eisner’s digital studio), and Paramount Digital Entertainment covering content creation, licensing, distribution and digital marketing. While there he developed, licensed and launched 30 original titles for TV, film and the web in over 110 countries worldwide. Ian graduated with a BA in History from the University of Pennsylvania and subsequently earned an MS with Merit in Media and Communications from the London School of Economics with a research focus on monetizing streaming media content in the U.S.