IBM Awards LivXP the Sports Tech Startup Prize Challenge
IBM (NYSE: IBM) has officially announced LivXP as the recipient of the prestigious IBM Sports Tech Startup Prize Challenge. This accolade celebrates the innovative application of agent-based AI that revolutionizes fan engagement with teams, organizations, and leagues.
The prize signifies the culmination of the IBM Sports Tech Startup Challenge, a comprehensive year-long global initiative aimed at identifying and evaluating promising growth-stage startups developing enterprise-ready technologies for the sports sector.
Initiated at the 2025 Web Summit Lisbon, IBM showcased emerging founders across Web Summits in Vancouver, Rio de Janeiro, and Lisbon, as well as during a16z Tech Weeks in New York and San Francisco, and in virtual forums.
These showcases aimed to enhance visibility and networking opportunities, although they did not influence eligibility or advancement in the invitation-only Prize Challenge conducted this week.
The challenge featured seven finalists chosen from a competitive array of sports technology innovators.
Each finalist presented their solutions to a distinguished panel of judges, including Sarah Meron, Chief Communications and Brand Officer at IBM; Marc Gené, Ferrari Ambassador with Scuderia Ferrari HP; CNN’s Headlines Anchor Brad Smith; and Frederico Gil, CEO and founder of FREDGIL Academy.
LivXP, a Swiss-American enterprise fostered at the Harvard Innovation Labs, functions as an AI-enhanced impulse commerce platform within the sports arena, facilitating auctions, immersive experiences, and sponsor activations that resonate with fans’ emotional highs.
Its versatile white-label platform is utilized by various entities, from the Tour de Suisse to Boston College Athletics, along with an array of federations, clubs, international events, and U.S. college sports teams, encompassing audiences in 150 countries.
“Both the technological innovation and the pragmatic application of LivXP’s solution left us thoroughly impressed,” remarked Sarah Meron, IBM’s Chief Communications and Brand Officer.
“At IBM, our pursuit of new avenues for AI to enhance client experiences aligns with the exciting potential we see in such technologies for enriching our collaborations with global sports and entertainment partners.”
Upon receiving the award, LivXP CEO and Co-Founder Ashima Saxena declared, Every emotional moment in sports generates potential revenue, and AI enables sports organizations to harness that at scale without increasing personnel.
We are honored to have triumphed in the IBM Sports Tech Startup Challenge and eagerly anticipate collaborating with IBM’s Sports & Entertainment Partnerships Team to proliferate impulse commerce across clubs, sponsors, and fans worldwide.
The Lisbon final represented the culmination of a year-long series of startup showcases and judging sessions uniting prominent figures from the realms of sports, media, and venture capital, featuring personalities such as Maria Sharapova, alongside representatives from a16z, USTA Ventures, Sony Ventures, Comcast Ventures, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE), FIFA, and Powerhouse Capital.
Finalists
The seven startups that participated in the 2026 IBM Sports Tech Startup Prize Challenge included:
- Fanory – A platform leveraging fan intelligence to convert live sports experiences into memorable assets and actionable behavioral data.
- Neuron Systems – A multi-agent AI platform providing real-time commentary, insights, and content generation for sports fans and creators.
- LivXP – A marketplace crafted for fan engagement, linking sports enthusiasts with exclusive experiences, auctions, and interactions with teams and athletes.
- PressBox – An AI-driven content platform empowering sports leagues, teams, and media organizations to create and customize content.
- NTangible – A platform designed for assessing athletes’ verbal cognitive performance under pressure.
- Proximity Works Inc. – An AI engineering firm creating real-time intelligence and fan engagement systems for the sports, media, and entertainment sectors.
- Noiz – A sports-matching platform designed to facilitate the discovery of courts, introduce new sports, and foster player connections.
The Grand Prize of the Challenge comprises up to $100,000 to support a qualifying proof-of-concept project in collaboration with IBM’s Sports and Entertainment Partnership Team, contingent upon separate review requirements.
Additionally, winners may receive $20,000 in IBM credits applicable to services and technologies, along with mentoring opportunities and evaluations as outlined in the Official Rules.
About the IBM Sports Tech Startup Challenge
Launched in conjunction with Web Summit, the IBM Sports Tech Startup Challenge aims to highlight startups deploying AI and other cutting-edge technologies to address challenges within the sports industry.
Building on IBM Ventures’ mission to connect leading innovations with enterprise clients, the Challenge applies this method to IBM’s sports portfolio, leveraging partnerships to showcase technologies with tangible potential for the sports ecosystem and broader business applications.
The 2026 program featured showcases at Web Summit events in Vancouver, Rio, and Lisbon, during a16z Tech Weeks in New York and San Francisco, and via virtual forums, culminating in the exclusive Prize Challenge at Web Summit Lisbon.
These showcases provided valuable visibility and engagement opportunities but did not influence eligibility, ranking, priority, or advancement in the Prize Challenge.
For over three decades, IBM has collaborated with some of the world’s most iconic sports institutions, including Wimbledon, the US Open, the Masters Tournament, Scuderia Ferrari HP, and UFC.
These partnerships aim to create AI-augmented experiences that provide deeper insights, enhanced engagement, and richer digital encounters for sports enthusiasts worldwide.
As the corporate venture capital division of IBM, IBM Ventures invests in startups focused on enterprise AI and quantum software.
A strategic investor, IBM Ventures collaborates closely with startups and founders to incorporate innovative technologies within IBM and to deliver value to clients.
Through IBM’s extensive technology, expertise, and global client network, IBM Ventures assists portfolio companies in forging strategic relationships and accelerating their growth.
Source link: Manilatimes.net.
