Diversified corporations, particularly in sports, excel at hosting accelerators. They provide start-ups with go-to-market support and trial opportunities for pilots. 
Touchdown Tech: Accelerating the Future of the Sports Experience
Interviewed by on March 14, 2024
With a rich history in business development and sales, Jenna Kurath provides a wealth of knowledge on building, marketing, and managing successful corporate venture capital programs as a start-up accelerator. Comcast’s vice president of startup partnership and head of Comcast NBCUniversal Sportstech ran track and cross country during her undergraduate days at Baylor University.
“My love for sports eventually drew me to Comcast,” Jenna said. It was not an entrepreneurial bug or itch to drive innovation. Instead, it was a love for an industry.”
Journey into Corporate Venturing
Jenna began her career at Silicon Graphics, managing partnerships, sales, and business development. It didn’t take her long, however, to transition to the media. She has been at Comcast for more than 11 years, but it was not until 2020 that her journey specifically took her into corporate venture. That was the time Comcast launched its accelerator program, Comcast NBCU Sportstech. Jenna’s background in business development and strategic partnership management made her a logical choice to head the program.
In creating Comcast’s accelerator, Jenna had to balance several key considerations. She got help from Boomtown, an outside innovation operator working as a strategic program partner.
They stand up custom accelerator programs on behalf of companies like us,” Jenna explained. “And they are fantastic partners because they are small and nimble and entrepreneurial.”
Boomtown supplied the know-how and Comcast brought the resources. The program receives 1,500 applications a year, and Boomtown works hand-in-hand with the media conglomerate to perform first-round interviews. This helps Jenna’s team select the final 50 finalists for the annual 10-company accelerator cohort.
Comcast’s Accelerator Model
Members of the sportstech cohorts must add to Comcast and vice versa. Jenna explains.
“Comcast is rooted in high-speed internet and cable provision,” she noted. “Our X1 platform is a leading entertainment experience in living rooms across America. Beyond this, NBC and Sky offer robust storytelling in news and sports. And we own properties like the Wells Fargo Center and the Philadelphia Flyers. We also reach millions through broadband and have extensive live sports rights on Peacock.”
Comcast is vertically integrated in every aspect of storytelling. Thus, the start-up business should be relevant to some aspect of that. Comcast Sportstech, due to this key position in the company, can leverage these assets to innovate across vast media and entertainment ecosystems through a number of programs baked into its accelerator:
- Access to a Consortium of Partners: Comcast SportsTech leverages relationships with entities such as NASCAR, Premier League soccer, World Wrestling Entertainment, the PGA Tour, and Olympic teams, providing portfolio companies opportunities to test and pilot their technologies in real-world settings. This approach offers valuable exposure and potential for future partnerships or acquisitions.
- Six-Month Program Validation Testing: The program is designed to facilitate product integration and market fit. This structured approach provides startups with focused support and guidance, enabling them to refine their products and demonstrate their value proposition to potential customers within Comcast’s ecosystem and beyond.
- Exposure and Pilot Opportunities: Comcast leverages its media platforms, such as X1, Xumo, and Peacock, to showcase portfolio companies’ technologies. This exposure can be especially valuable for startups seeking to establish themselves in the competitive sports tech market.
- Bespoke Support and Commercial Advising: Comcast SportsTech assigns a dedicated commercial advisor to each portfolio company. This advisor acts as a liaison, facilitating connections within Comcast’s network and guiding the start-up through the complexities of working with a large organization.
- SparkSessions: These get-togethers focus on specific topics and assemble portfolio companies with Comcast executives, industry experts, and potential customers, fostering collaboration and providing insights into the sports and entertainment industry’s needs.
- Alumni Network: Comcast encourages continued engagement and knowledge sharing among past participants. This network offers startups access to a broader pool of resources, mentorship, and potential business opportunities.
Perhaps the biggest value add that Comcast Ventures offers in its six-month program is access to Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center, home to both the 76ers and the Flyers. Program members can integrate their products and services into sporting events, gaining a testing ground and bringing the market to its portfolio. Comcast SportsTech’s value proposition emphasizes strategic alignment, real-world testing, and market access, aiming to create successful and sustainable businesses that benefit both the portfolio companies and the Comcast ecosystem as a whole.
The Future of Sportstech
Since Comcast’s program often involves real-world testing, Jenna wishes she’d been looking for more mature companies from day one. Looking for future solutions that had not been developed closed the aperture too much, she admits.
“If you have singular partner risk, it’s not going to bring the value that the founding team needs, and it’s not going to bring value to the program at large,” she said.
If one invests only because it brings value to the U.S.A. Olympic swim team, then other partners will not be interested in the investment’s success.
Jenna is watching for ways startups can blend the physical and the digital to enhance home viewing, integrate data in storytelling, and create personalized fan experiences. She envisions advancements such as unique camera angles and interactive features that recreate aspects of the in-stadium atmosphere for viewers at home. Predictive analytics could be used to heighten fan excitement by forecasting potential game-changing moments, both for betting and general viewership. New AI tools can create edited game highlights tailored to specific fan preferences. There is so much on the horizon, and Jenna and her Comcast Ventures team are ready to hit these trends out of the ballpark.
