pro-manchester’s Sport Sector Committee Chair launches new #SportTechTalk interview series

My role as Chair of the Pro-Manchester Sports Committee leads me to speak with some amazing people across the region, within this fast-paced industry.

Earlier in the year in fact, I kicked off the Future of Sports Symposium event, chatting about our world-first fan engagement work with SailGP. I also had the pleasure of speaking alongside Deloitte and AWS to technology leaders from the likes of the NFL and the English Premier League.

But the world of sport is one I’ve always been close to, having played professional football for six years, and continuing my role in sports through technology since joining Apadmi a few years ago.

At Apadmi, we’re fascinated by the increasing role that technology and data can have in transforming both fan engagement and athletic performance. Not only are we based in the shadow of two of the world’s biggest football clubs – Manchester United and Manchester City – but we’re always keen to celebrate and learn from other innovators in the sports tech world around us.

In conversation with Richard Lang of SPOK’D

The city of Manchester has a long history of sporting success, with the Commonwealth Games in 2002 creating an infrastructure that has led to gold medals for British cycling teams. This brings me on to our first interviewee nicely – an Aussie, entrepreneur and former pro-cyclist living and running a new Sports tech business in Manchester.

The Founder of SPOK’D, Richard Lang, who set up the business three years ago and made our city his home.

SPOK’D is a software tool for the cycling community that acts as your coach, giving you tailored training sessions to reach those all-important targets and PBs. Last week, we caught up and chatted about his Oz to Ancoats story, and how SPOK’D is set to shake things up, including:

• the impact of COVID-19 on sport, such as the incredible surge in home fitness and home gym purchases
• how COVID-19 has affected SPOK’D as a business
• their future plans and how his team are working towards their next investment round

Watch the short interview in full here.