The 2025 ASPN Accelerator Demo Day, organized by the Sports Administration, Ministry of Education and hosted by IAPS, NYCU, took place on July 25 at Syntrend Show in Taipei. The event attracted 15 teams from 8 countries, showcasing the results of 4 months of collaborative development with both domestic and international industry mentors. In the end, the Taiwanese team, “Spot” took the top honors, winning both the “Sports Administration Award” and the “IAPS Award.”
- Spot, the Taiwanese team won both the "Sports Administration Award" and the "IAPS Award" at the ASPN Accelerator Demo Day.
Vice President Shun-Hua Wei of National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU) expressed that IAPS is a globally renowned industry accelerator. He was pleased to have the opportunity to collaborate with the Sports Administration, MOE through ASPN to establish Asia’s first sports innovation accelerator. Through ASPN, IAPS continues to build strong connections with partners across the Asia-Pacific sports sector, aiming to become a central hub for sports innovation in the region. Dr. Wei emphasized IAPS’s commitment to fostering an international, cross-industry innovation ecosystem. Over the past few years, IAPS has actively participated in international events and competitions, with the goal of promoting sports innovation education throughout the Asia-Pacific region and driving the real-world application of sports technology across multiple domains. To date, IAPS has successfully supported 130 sports innovation startups from 25 countries, significantly boosting Taiwan’s international visibility.
- Speech by Vice President Shun-Hua Wei of National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University.
Dr. Ching-Yao Huang shared that this year’s Demo Day featured 15 teams from 8 countries competing for the accelerator’s top honors, fully showcasing the achievements they’ve co-developed with both local and international mentors over the past four months. The competition was intense, and the judges faced a tough challenge in selecting the winners.
In the end, Spot from Taiwan stood out and won both the “Sports Administration Award” and the “IAPS Award.” Spot’s current technology is already widely applied, having been adopted by several professional baseball teams and basketball leagues. Their next step is to expand into the road racing sector, with plans to explore international markets including Japan and Southeast Asia. Meanwhile, Fortune AI, known for its AI-powered drowning prevention solution in aquatic environments, also received the Sports Administration Award. Another highlight was Rebas Sports, a data-driven baseball community platform with a strong online presence. Their innovative data analytics and business model earned them the ASPN Award, impressing the judges.
Moving forward, all awarded teams will have the opportunity to be invited to participate in ASPN-affiliated events and exhibitions both domestically and internationally, opening doors to further business development.
- Dr. Ching-Yao Huang, VP of the OIAC, NYCU, took a group photo with the graduating teams from Taiwan.
Maggie Hsu, Director of the Sports Administration at the Ministry of Education, stated that ASPN (APEC Sport Policy Network) was initiated by the Sports Administration in 2016 under the APEC Human Resources Development Working Group. It aims to unite sports officials and industry experts from APEC economies to jointly promote sports innovation education. Since 2018, ASPN has leveraged an accelerator mechanism to integrate resources from various regional sectors, fostering sports innovation talent.
This year’s Accelerator Demo Day was held in conjunction with the Sport Event Taiwan Workshop, inviting over 20 international speakers from ASPN to Taiwan. These included representatives from renowned organizations such as Silicon Valley’s Plug and Play accelerator, GSIC powered by Microsoft in Singapore, and the Australian Sports Technologies Network (ASTN). The goal was to draw from global best practices and encourage sports innovation teams to strengthen real-world applications.
- Speech by Maggie Hsu, Director of the International and Cross-Strait Sports Division, Sports Administration, Ministry of Education.
- Group Photo of Mentors – ASPN Sports Tech Accelerator Batch 2
We also extend our heartfelt thanks to our distinguished international guests, including representatives from the Judo Club Alkmaar (Netherlands), TMPSA, the Taiwan Street Dance Sports Promotion Association, as well as officials from local sports bureaus and the Sports Administration, Ministry of Education. We hope that these achievements will continue to fuel innovation and make the world take notice of Taiwan’s sports tech potential, as we work together to build a deep and far-reaching sports industry ecosystem.
- Group photo from the 2025 ASPN Sports Tech Accelerator Demo Day.