GO Ventures Backs SPASH as It Builds Portfolio of High-Growth Technology Companies

GO Ventures, the startup investment arm of the GO Group, has invested in French sports technology company SPASH as it seeks to strengthen its portfolio of early-stage businesses with proven demand and the potential to expand internationally.

The investment forms part of a €2 million Series A funding round for Lyon-based SPASH, alongside Vessoa Invest, CoopVenture and existing shareholders. The company develops video, data and analytics technology for amateur sports, with its systems deployed across almost 450 sports centres in France and elsewhere in Europe.

According to Paul Grech, Head of Investments at GO Ventures, the investment reflects a broader shift in its strategy since establishing its venture arm in 2019.

“We have become much clearer about what we are looking for and, importantly, what makes a good investment for us. Today, we primarily look at Seed and Series A companies that already have a product in the market and are generating revenue. At this stage of a company’s development, plans will change, markets will evolve and there will inevitably be setbacks. The quality, ambition and resilience of the founders are therefore hugely important to us,” said Mr Grech.

GO Ventures’ portfolio spans areas including artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, fintech and future-of-work technologies, but the common thread is increasingly commercial traction rather than a particular sector. The group is also placing greater weight on the founders behind the businesses it backs.

SPASH fits that approach. Founded in Lyon in 2018, the company provides technology that allows players in sports including padel, tennis and five-a-side football to record and analyse their games, while helping sports centres increase engagement, build communities and improve their operations.

The new funding will support the development of AI-driven features and new products for padel and other racket sports, while strengthening the company’s commercial and technical teams and supporting expansion into markets including Italy, Benelux, the UK and the DACH region.

“What attracted us to SPASH was the combination of a strong product, clear market traction and a large opportunity for further growth. Amateur sport is becoming increasingly digital, but much of the technology and data that has transformed professional sport has yet to filter down to the everyday player. We are particularly interested in companies that use technologies such as AI to improve an existing experience or solve a genuine customer problem, rather than simply using AI for its own sake,” Mr Grech said.

For SPASH, the immediate opportunity is to turn its existing European footprint into a broader international platform.

Tristan Vernay, Co-Founder of SPASH, said: “Our mission is to gamify the amateur athlete’s experience while helping clubs strengthen their economics. This funding represents an important step in that journey and gives us the resources to accelerate the development of our AI capabilities, introduce new products for clubs and continue expanding internationally.

“We are delighted to welcome GO Ventures as an investor. Beyond the investment itself, having a partner with its technology and telecommunications background is particularly valuable as we look at the next stage of SPASH’s growth and the opportunities to bring our technology to more clubs and players across Europe.”

The investment also gives GO Ventures the opportunity to draw on the wider GO Group’s technology and telecommunications expertise, as well as its operations in Malta and Cyprus and international relationships.

But Mr Grech stressed that the venture arm’s role is to support rather than direct its portfolio companies.
“They know their business better than we do, so we want to be a useful partner rather than tell them how to run their company,” he said.

That approach reflects GO Ventures’ broader ambition to combine the resources and relationships of a larger corporate group with the investment discipline of a venture investor.

“SPASH is a good example of the type of company that increasingly interests us. Its combination of technology, commercial traction and international ambition reflects the direction of GO Ventures as it seeks to build a portfolio of scalable technology businesses,” concluded Mr Grech.