Who are we?
Sportinnovator is the Netherlands’ leading sports innovation network. Our mission is drive and spread innovations that ensure that sports and taking exercise are part of everyone’s day-to-day routine in the Netherlands. Innovations for a social, sustainable and healthy society. The Sportinnovator ecosystem consists of Sportinnovator centres, sports institutions, businesses, knowledge institutions and municipalities. They work together on groundbreaking innovations. Sportinnovator also supports innovations that boost performance improvement in elite sport and innovations that increase sustainability in sports facilities.
What is our method?
We are firm believers in collaboration and co-creation. Operating as a neutral, coordinating party, we bring together all those needed to deliver these innovations.
For this we have developed a successful innovation formula based on a model in which close cooperation takes place in innovation projects between sports innovation centres, municipalities, companies, sports providers and researchers. The participating parties are brought together in consortia. Within all these partnerships, Sportinnovator has a multiple and stimulating role: (co)financier, connector, coach and promoter.
Sportinnovator centres
Sportinnovator has established a nationwide network of Sportinnovator centres where researchers, companies, sports institutions and local authorities collaborate to create innovations that benefit both elite and grassroots sport and address societal challenges in the area of playing sport and taking exercise. Every Sportinnovator centre has its own area of expertise. Following an assessment, these centres are now Certified Partners for Sportinnovator. That guarantees the quality and uniqueness of the centres in the network. The centres all cooperate with one another, acting as drivers of innovation in the Netherlands and elsewhere.
Sport Data Valley is the data analysis infrastructure for sport, exercise and health. This unique platform gives athletes, trainers, healthcare professionals and researchers a better understanding of sporting and exercise habits, sleep and performance, via personalised dashboards and in-house analytic scripts. By studying Sport Data Valley’s data, we can learn how to improve athletic performance and promote a healthier and more energetic lifestyle for the general population. This entails preventing injuries, enhancing performance and exercising more often and in smarter ways. Since March 2025, Sport Data Valley has been part of the Mulier Institute.
Facts & Figures
Through proven collaboration, Sportinnovator aims to maximise the impact of sports innovation, to help the Netherlands achieve international prominence. Since 2015, Sportinnovator has assessed well over 1250 innovative concepts and has provided more than 500 promising initiatives with financial support and advice. The main objective is to accelerate innovations and to ensure that innovations are successfully brought to market and actually applied in practical settings. More than 100 innovations supported by Sportinnovator have now been launched on the market.
International
Springboard
In order to create impact with innovations on a broader scale, it is important that successful projects can be scaled up. Not only in the Netherlands, but also internationally. That is why Sportinnovator is also a springboard for sports innovations and Sportinnovator centers with international ambitions. We monitor innovations, spot opportunities abroad and make connections via the platforms we are affiliated with. Like SportsNL.
SportsNL
In this network, the business community, government, knowledge institutions, social organisations and sport are connected around the theme of sport and the wider world. SportsNL ensures the coordination, focus and collective international branding of Dutch sports innovations. The initiators of this platform are the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport.
In addition, Sportinnovator is part of EPSI, the European Platform for Sport Innovation. This is where the connection with European sports innovation partners is made.
'The Dutch approach'
Sportinnovator shows what the Netherlands has to offer in the field of sports innovation. We are introducing other countries to 'the Dutch approach', for example in the field of sustainability. We want to inspire other countries through our working method, in which cooperation between sports, businesses, government and knowledge institutions is central. To make contacts, share knowledge and explain our working method, Sportinnovator is regularly present at international events. Here are two examples:
Events
In the coming years Sportinnovator will mainly focus internationally on countries where major sporting events take place. The Winter Olympics in Milan (2026) and Los Angeles (2028) in particular offer great opportunities to promote Dutch innovations and establish partnerships. By organising the 2024 Sports4All Innovation Summit, Sportinnovator has given the starting signal for European collaboration in the field of sports and exercise innovations. The focus is on sharing knowledge, exchanging best practices, focusing on cooperation and co-creation, and jointly scaling up innovations and applicable ideas with proven effect.
Contact
For further information about Sportinnovator, please contact us:
info@sportinnovator.nl
+31703495480.
Sportinnovator is an initiative of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport and is supported by ZonMw, The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development.