Casper Ruud and Magnus Carlsen back SportAI as it secures €2.6 million for its AI performance insights

Oslo’s SportAI, the B2B sports technology company using AI to deliver professional-level performance insights through video analysis, has raised an oversubscribed €2.6 million funding round to scale their global roll-out and expand technical development.

The round saw participation from Norwegian investment fund Altitude Capital, and global tennis star Casper Ruud (former world number two). Individual investors include Endre Holen, former Head of McKinsey’s Global Tech & Media sector (also joining SportAI as Chairman); US professional soccer player Alejandro Bedoya; TRK Group Founder Trond Riiber Knudsen; and the highest-ranked chess player of all time Magnus Carlsen.

Lauren Pedersen, CEO and co-founder of SportAI, says: “As a former NCAA player, I know how transformative good coaching and analysis are, and how inaccessible it can be. That’s what we’re solving at SportAI. Closing this oversubscribed round, backed by Casper Ruud and with Endre Holen joining as Chairman, accelerates our ability to make professional-level coaching insights and engaging digital experiences accessible at scale.”

European sports-technology investment activity in 2025 shows continued momentum, with several startups securing new rounds across adjacent areas to SportAI’s AI-driven performance analysis.

In France/UK, ScorePlay raised €12.5 million to scale its AI sports media-management platform, while Poland’s ReSpo.Vision secured €4.2 million to advance computer-vision tracking for football analytics. Denmark-based Jabbr.ai closed €4.3 million for AI-enabled combat-sports analysis, and Brussels’ Model Health raised €800k to expand smartphone-based movement assessment for sports clinics.

Additional activity includes Ireland’s Sports Impact Technologies securing €650k for head-impact wearable technology and Sweden’s SponsWatch raising €1 million to expand its sponsorship-measurement analytics.

In total, these announcements represent roughly €23.45 million in funding flowing into European sports and performance-analytics technologies this year.

Within this landscape, SportAI’s €2.6 million round positions the company as Norway’s notable contributor to a pan-European trend of investment in tools that broaden access to data-driven coaching, video analysis and athlete-performance insights.

Casper Ruud, the top 20-ranked men’s tennis player, says: “As someone who has competed at the highest level, I know that winning margins often come down to tiny details. SportAI’s technology is bringing elite-level insights – the kind of analysis that top players have access to – to everyone around the world. Whether you’re at your local club or training for tournaments, players at all levels can now get the data they need to improve their game.”

SportAI was co-founded in 2023 by ex-NCAA tennis player Lauren Pedersen (CEO), Felipe Longé (CTO) and Andreas Thome (Board Chairman, ex-CEO of Play Magnus) alongside Espen Agdestein (Board member), and Trond Kittelsen (Head of Commercial).

SportAI is tapping into the burgeoning AI in sports market, which is set to reach €24.4 billion ($28.2 billion) by 2030, with SportAI’s cloud-based SaaS able to be integrated by businesses to enhance their broadcast coverage, sports facilities, coaching programmes, training apps, and equipment recommendations.

SportAI offers advanced technique analysis, detailed match statistics, tactical insights and highlight videos using computer vision and machine learning.

Previously, video analysis required manual tagging by coaches, which limited scalability and longevity, and was affordable only by professional players with access to performance analysts. However, as mounted court cameras, broadcast feeds and mobile phone video recording become the norm at sports facilities, SportAI is capitalising on the demand for high-quality analysis.

The company is integrating court camera solutions through its SaaS platform and APIs to match the increasing rollout rate of cameras and streaming services worldwide. The platform is camera-agnostic, enabling the AI technology to be integrated with thousands of sports facilities worldwide.

Endre Holen, Chairman of SportAI, says: “SportAI is addressing a genuine gap in the market for accessible, AI-driven performance analysis in racket sports. Having spent seven years on the board of Hudl, I’ve seen firsthand how video analysis technology can transform coaching and player development.

“The expert team’s determined focus on court camera solutions and the successful application of their proprietary AI technology so far convinced me of the opportunity to make SportAI the definitive platform in this space. Clubs and players worldwide will benefit hugely from this high-quality technology.”

Key SportAI partnerships include:

• MATCHi, the world’s fastest-growing network for racket sports with 1 million+ users, 3k venues, and 17k courts across 30 countries, which offered SportAI’s analysis to enhance players’ experience and training
• Save My Play, a leading US court-mounted camera system deployed across thousands of racket sports facilities
• Shark, providing an AI-powered coaching app for Shark’s pickleball customers in the US, Europe, Brazil, and Australia.

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