SMASH London celebrates the capital’s Sport Tech ecosystem

London demonstrated once again why it is a leader in European Sport Tech yesterday (25 April) as SMASH London returned to explore global trends in technology for physical activity.

Speakers from Germany, Finland and the United States all converged on central London to share knowledge and expertise for a diverse audience of business leaders, investors and start-ups from across the sport tech ecosystem.

London Sport teamed up with SMASH, one of the world’s largest SportTech events, to develop the second SMASH London event at Hackney House, focusing on sport technology and innovation.

SMASH London began with the launch of the first ever London SportTech report, a collaboration between SportsTechX and London Sport, which showed a massive 111% increase in investment in Sport Tech start-ups in London in 2018.

Read more about the London SportTech report here

At #SmashLondon yesterday:
💪 Heard innovators pitch ideas
💪 @ODIHQ spoke about the work they’re doing with @Sport_England around open opportunity data
💪 Learnt about ways Helsinki are getting people physically active Thanks to @jalexzurita and the team https://t.co/HbFrk6LwFi

— Lisa Ellwood (she/her) (@LisaEllwood) April 26, 2019

And the momentum from that launch continued as Olympic gold medallist Kate Richardson-Walsh took to the stage to discuss athletes’ contribution to the tech ecosystem in a discussion curated by thinkBeyond Talent.

Chelsea FC Foundation were also on hand to delve into the connections between Sport and STEM and emphasising the positive outcomes associated with getting children into sport and technology.

The diverse topics brought together by the programme also saw delegates from the City of Helsinki, Google Play and The Open Data Institute take to the SMASH London stage throughout the day.

Was a privilege to share the stage with @BenPeppi, @Squadkit and @katewalsh11 yesterday at #SmashLondon. If you missed it then check out Kate's Q&A with @LondonSport ahead of the event https://t.co/wEg2gl7Ewt

— thinkBeyond Talent (@_tBTalent) April 26, 2019

SMASH London served as the perfect reminder of the broad church which Sport Tech encompasses and the huge number of routes available on the journey to getting more Londoners active.

Alex Zurita, London Sport’s Specialist Advisor – Technology for Participation, said:

“We were delighted that, after the success of last year’s event, we were able to work alongside SMASH to bring SMASH London back to the capital even bigger and better this time around.

“It was fantastic to see such a broad range of delegates attend SMASH London which just goes to show the huge number of ways that Sport Tech can influence Londoners’ lives.

“The event was a huge success as we brought British and Nordic tech firms, investors and start-ups together to learn and collaborate in a laid-back and friendly atmosphere.”