Name: Lauren Pedersen
Company: SportAI
Position: CEO and co-founder
Website: https://sportai.com/
About Lauren Pedersen
I co-founded SportAI in 2023, bringing together my lifelong passion for sports and my 17 years of experience in the tech industry, having held leadership roles at technology companies such as Opera Software and Airthings. I am a former NCAA Division I tennis player, and alongside my co-founders, I saw the potential to apply AI to sports to make advanced, objective sports data available to everyone, from professionals to amateur players. We recognised that leveraging computer vision and machine learning would be key to providing accessible real-time, personalised insights. Growing up in New Zealand, I did not have access to the high-quality technique analysis that many athletes do in other countries and this personal experience has fueled my ambition to democratise access to world-class sports training through technology.
SportAI is a B2B sports technology platform that uses AI to deliver real-time technique analysis for athletes, coaches and fans. Our technology provides data-driven insights to improve player performance, supports broadcasters with in-depth game analysis, and enables equipment brands to offer personalised gear recommendations based on player biomechanics, all without the need for expensive hardware.
Starting SportAI came with its share of challenges. Breaking into the sports ecosystem meant building a highly skilled tech team in Oslo, securing partnerships across the sector, and encouraging a traditionally conservative industry to embrace AI.
SportAI has achieved significant milestones, including a $1.8M seed round led by Skyfall Ventures, $805k in grants through Innovation Norway and Eurostars, and our first commercial partnership with MATCHi, the fastest-growing racket sports platform globally. I was honoured to be a finalist in the VivaTech Female Founder 2024 awards and the DNB NXT 100 Pitches competition at Oslo Innovation Week. I also serve on the board of No Isolation, a Norwegian tech company dedicated to reducing social isolation through technology.
This year, we are focused on expanding the reach of SportAI, growing partnerships with broadcasters and equipment brands, and applying our technology to new sports beyond tennis and padel. On a personal level, I am continuing to train as a competitive tennis player, having last year represented Norway at the 2024 ITF Masters World Championships in Tokyo. My mission is to ensure that every athlete, regardless of their location or resources, has access to the tools they need to improve their playing technique.
