Lauren Pedersen, a former NCAA Division I tennis player from New Zealand, has made a bold leap from sports to technology, co-founding SportAI, a revolutionary sports tech company based in Oslo. The company, founded in 2023, is making waves with its AI-powered platform that provides real-time, personalised sports technique analysis for athletes at all levels.
SportAI combines cutting-edge technologies like computer vision, machine learning, and biometric analysis to offer instant feedback on sports techniques—without the need for expensive sensors or specialised equipment. Its platform is particularly focused on enhancing the performance of tennis and padel players, helping them refine their swings by comparing their techniques to those of global stars like Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic.
The platform’s unique value proposition lies in its accessibility. While top-level athletes have long relied on elite coaching and costly equipment, SportAI’s technology makes professional-grade feedback available to anyone with a smartphone, regardless of location or resources. The platform provides businesses with scalable, data-driven insights that can be used in training programmes, sports commentary, and even equipment recommendations.
Growing up in New Zealand, where access to world-class coaching was scarce, Lauren understood firsthand the challenges that come with limited resources. This experience has shaped her vision of making elite-level training and coaching accessible to athletes of all backgrounds. With SportAI, she is working to democratise sports training by using AI to level the playing field.
Lauren’s journey to entrepreneurship is a testament to her resilience and adaptability. After excelling as a competitive tennis player during her university years in Washington, DC, she ventured into the advertising world, working in New York and London. But her passion for both sports and technology eventually led her to a career shift. Moving to Oslo, Lauren embraced the tech sector, leveraging her 17 years of experience working with start-ups in industries such as mobile payments and air quality sensors. This diverse background set the stage for her to co-found SportAI.
The company’s mission is simple: to harness the power of artificial intelligence to analyse sports techniques and provide valuable insights that were once only available to top-tier athletes with access to expensive coaching and equipment. With SportAI, even amateur players can now improve their game with real-time, data-driven feedback.
The company’s platform works by analysing videos captured on mobile phones, cameras mounted on the court, or even broadcast feeds. Using machine learning algorithms, it identifies key aspects of an athlete’s technique and offers instant, objective analysis. For businesses in the sports sector, this means they can integrate AI-driven insights into their operations, from coaching to product development.
Lauren is at the forefront of a broader movement in sports technology, where AI and machine learning are poised to reshape how athletes train and compete. As major events like the 2024 Paris Olympics begin to incorporate AI-driven tools, SportAI is already leading the charge in offering accessible and affordable solutions for athlete performance enhancement.
As a female CEO in the predominantly male-dominated tech and sports industries, Lauren has faced her share of challenges. However, her determination to break barriers and champion innovation has made her an influential voice in both fields. She believes that the future of tech-driven change is strongest when diverse perspectives are at the table, and her leadership is paving the way for more women in tech and sports to follow suit.
In addition to her entrepreneurial efforts, Lauren continues to pursue her own athletic goals. She is currently representing Norway in the 2024 ITF Masters World Championships in Tokyo, using SportAI’s own technology to enhance her training and improve her performance.
About SportAI
SportAI is a Norwegian B2B sports technology company at the forefront of AI-powered sports technique analysis. The platform uses computer vision, machine learning, and biometric technology to offer instant, objective, and precise insights into an athlete’s performance. Designed for sports businesses worldwide, SportAI provides scalable solutions that can be integrated into coaching platforms, training academies, broadcasters, and equipment manufacturers. By transforming video footage into actionable data, SportAI is helping to make high-quality sports analysis accessible to all, empowering athletes and businesses to elevate their game.