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Radar · Sports Services in Chicago

Best Sports Services Companies in Chicago, United States

The 31 best Sports Services companies in Chicago, United States in 2026, ranked by funding and momentum. Funding, investors, founders, valuation, tech stack and live signals. Top: APP.

31companies tracked
$20.7Mdisclosed funding
0unicorns
7have raised
FLIAR INTELLIGENCE · SPORTS SERVICES × CHICAGO

Our analysis of 50 Sports Services companies

$3.3b in tracked funding; 98% of the stack-profiled cohort runs cloud-native; funding activity peaked in 2025.

50companies analysed
98%cloud-native stacks
2025funding peak (by rounds)
1unicorns
2017median founding year
399kcombined LinkedIn audience
67%of audience held by top 3
1companies hiring publicly (12 mo)

Ranked: Best Sports Services companies in Chicago

#CompanyDisclosed fundingLast roundStageFounderFoundedTech stackRecent signals
1APP
Academy for pickleball enthusiasts offering news, resources, events, and development clinics
40Growth top 35%Tech top 46%Funding top 50%Talent bottom 49%
All 7 signals ▾
Growthtop 35%
Techtop 46%
Fundingtop 50%
Talentbottom 49%
Newsbottom 48%
Globalbottom 29%
Marketbottom 28%
Growth: Fresh capital in last 24 mo
Tech: 37 technologies across 5/8 capability areas · Cloud: Amazon S3, Amazon Web Services
rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 40/100
$7M21 mo agoSeries AKen Herrmann
Founder
2019WebflowTikTok PixelPinterest Conversion Tag+25—
2Trajektory
Provider of sports data assessment services
27Funding top 43%Market bottom 38%Global bottom 29%
All 3 signals ▾
Fundingtop 43%
Marketbottom 38%
Globalbottom 29%
Funding: Raised $4.0M across 2 rounds · 2 rounds over 4 yrs (0.5/yr)
Market: 26 employees
rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 27/100
$4M15 mo agoSeries A—2019——
3DubClub
Provider of sports services
$3M48 mo agoSeries AAndrew Daschbach
Co-Founder
2021SentryNode.jsSvelteKit+12—
4Vision Quest
Provider of multi-sports training courses
$3M72 mo agoSeedRobbie Ventura
Founder & Owner
2000Reactstyled-componentsGoogle Cloud+17—
5NewClub
Operator of a golf club
$2M31 mo agoSeedMark Colwell
Co-Founder
2005Cart FunctionalitySquarespace CommerceSquarespace+22—
6We Coach
Provider of sports training services
$494K64 mo agoSeedMegan Bartlett
Founder
2017——
7Fonseca Martial Arts
Provider of martial arts instruction for all ages and abilities in multiple locations
$150K122 mo agoSeedJohn Fonseca
Owner And Head Instructor
2007WordPressMySQLPHP+19—
8Absolute Soccer
Absolute Soccer is an international football (soccer) training and development company.
————2015——

Top 7 Sports Services companies in Chicago

#1
Series A · Chicago, Illinois · founded 2019 · 26 employees
$4Mraised
▾

Provider of sports data assessment services. It helps to clean, organize, and connect disparate data sources automatically into a view. It enables the analysis of partner performance, asset performance, and the performance of competitors.

Fliar Intelligence Index™ 27how this company ranks against its industry peers
Funding
top 43%
Market
bottom 38%
Global
bottom 29%
Funding: Raised $4.0M across 2 rounds · 2 rounds over 4 yrs (0.5/yr) · Last round Series A (Jul 2025)
Market: 26 employees
Global: Single-market focus (United States)
Audience (LinkedIn): 10k LinkedIn followers — 2.5% of this cohort's audience
Activity (LinkedIn): 1 product launches announced in 12 mo
Funding rounds
  • Jul 2025Series A$9.5M
  • Nov 2022Seed$4M
Investors
TechOperators, Bridge Ventures, Gaingels, Mudita Venture Partners, Bridge Investments, Chicago Early Growth Ventures
#2
Series A · Chicago, Illinois · founded 2019
$7Mraised
▾

Association that brings together pickleball enthusiasts from around the world, providing them with news, resources, and events to elevate their game.

Fliar Intelligence Index™ 40how this company ranks against its industry peers
Growth
top 35%
Tech
top 46%
Funding
top 50%
Talent
bottom 49%
News
bottom 48%
Global
bottom 29%
Growth: Fresh capital in last 24 mo
Tech: 37 technologies across 5/8 capability areas · Cloud: Amazon S3, Amazon Web Services · Observability: Microsoft Clarity
Funding: Raised $7.0M across 2 rounds · 2 rounds over 3 yrs (0.7/yr) · Last round Series A (Feb 2025)
Audience (LinkedIn): 7k LinkedIn followers
Funding rounds
  • Feb 2025Series A$6.5M
  • May 2023Series A$7M
Founders & team
Ken HerrmannFounder
Investors
Oxbow Industries
Tech stack
Adobe Audience ManagerAmazon S3Amazon Web ServicesApple PayCart FunctionalityCloudflare
#3
Seed · Chicago, Illinois · founded 2005
$2.1Mraised
▾

Operator of a golf club. It offers golf opportunities on public and private courses, team and individual competitions, bucket-list trips, and a true golf community.

LinkedIn Pulse recent public activity · Jul 2026
Audience: 2k LinkedIn followers
Activity: 1 product launches announced in 12 mo
Funding rounds
  • Apr 2024Seed$1.2M
  • Mar 2024Seed$964K
Founders & team
Mark ColwellCo-FounderMatt ConsidineFounder | CEO | Director of Golf
Tech stack
ActivecampaignAngularCart FunctionalityCloudflareCloudflare Bot ManagementCore-Js
#4
Series A · Chicago, Illinois · founded 2021 · 25 employees
$3.5Mraised
▾

Developer of a sports platform intended for sports handicappers and their subscribers to win more together by game predictions. The company's platform is for handicappers to easily set up a messaging system that sends real-time plays and write-ups to their subscribers over text messages, email, or other preferred channels by subscribing to their channel, members receive plays right when they are published and can interact directly with the creator who has the sports channel, enabling both handicappers and subscribers to earn real money.

LinkedIn Pulse recent public activity · Jul 2026
Audience: 1k LinkedIn followers
Funding rounds
  • Nov 2022Series A$3.5M
Founders & team
Andrew DaschbachCo-FounderLewis BurikCo-Founder & COORyan GaertnerCEO + Head of Product
Tech stack
CloudflareCloudflare Bot ManagementCore-JsFacebook PixelGoogle Font ApiGoogle Workspace
#5
Seed · Chicago, Illinois · founded 2000 · 17 employees
$3.4Mraised
▾

Operator of a chain of cycling training centers based in Chicago, Illinois. The company provides triathlon and cycling training services to fitness enthusiasts, sports athletes, triathletes and cyclists through its network of franchisees and also offers strength training classes with no equipment which are accessible through virtual live streams.

LinkedIn Pulse recent public activity · Jul 2026
Audience: 185 LinkedIn followers
Funding rounds
  • Oct 2020Seed$3.4M
Founders & team
Robbie VenturaFounder & Owner
Tech stack
BluehostCallrailCdnjsCloudflareCore-JsGoogle Analytics
#6
Seed · Chicago, Illinois · founded 2017
$494Kraised
▾

Provider of sports training services

LinkedIn Pulse recent public activity · Jul 2026
Audience: 3k LinkedIn followers
Funding rounds
  • Jun 2021Seed$494K
Founders & team
Megan BartlettFounder
#7
Seed · Chicago, Illinois · founded 2007 · 13 employees
$150Kraised
▾

Fonseca Martial Arts is a martial arts school with multiple locations in Illinois, offering classes for all ages and abilities in a positive, friendly, family atmosphere. They aim to help individuals discover their true potential and become champions in mind, body, and spirit.

Funding rounds
  • Aug 2016Seed$150K
Founders & team
John FonsecaOwner And Head Instructor
Tech stack
CloudflareCloudflare Bot ManagementGodaddyGoogle WorkspaceHstsOpen Graph

Funding & investor landscape

$20.7Mtotal disclosed funding
7companies funded
10disclosed rounds
0rounds last 90 days
Most active investors
Bridge Investments1 rounds
Bridge Ventures1 rounds
Chicago Early Growth Ventures1 rounds
Gaingels1 rounds
Intersect Vc1 rounds
Mudita Venture Partners1 rounds
Oxbow Industries1 rounds
TechOperators1 rounds
The Raine Group1 rounds
Wexford Capital Partners1 rounds

Notable founders

Ken Herrmann
Founder · APP
Mark Colwell
Co-Founder · NewClub
Matt Considine
Founder | CEO | Director of Golf · NewClub
Andrew Daschbach
Co-Founder · DubClub
Lewis Burik
Co-Founder & COO · DubClub
Robbie Ventura
Founder & Owner · Vision Quest
Megan Bartlett
Founder · We Coach
John Fonseca
Owner And Head Instructor · Fonseca Martial Arts
Prism market signals · United States · country-scoped Prism corpus, 2,551,357 docs

Market landscape — 10 sub-themes by coverage

Share of Sports Services coverage by sub-theme.

Regulatory-risk over time rising

Funding & growth over time

funding rising · growth rising

RESEARCH SIGNALS · United States

How research on Sports Technology is moving in the United States

A read on the academic research around Sports Technology — which themes are gaining ground, the institutions and researchers driving them, and how the tone is shifting. Based on 197 United States-affiliated papers.

research sentiment over time
201520202025
enthusiastic · positive · guarded tone
Tone is overwhelmingly optimistic and softening — the enthusiastic (strongly-positive) share moved 50% → 47% across 2015–2025.
top research entities
  • East Tennessee State University9
  • Harvard University5
  • Lindenwood University4
  • Texas A&M University4
  • Boston Children's Hospital4
leading researchers
Ai Ishida · Michael H. Stone · Samuel Onimisi Dawodu · Shedrack Onwusinkwue · Femi Osasona · Akoh Atadoga · Bernard W. Downs · Samudra Prosad Banik
▲ Breakthroughs18 · 9%
▼ 11%→6% share
▼0.5× share momentum2 median citations33% since 2021mostly methods-led
Breakthroughs are cooling (11%→6% of field), led by Analytics.
rising sub-themes (early→recent)
  • Analytics7
  • Human–computer interaction4
  • Data science3
  • Biomechanics3
  • Usability3
Landmark Sports Analytics · 54 cites
◆ Advancements76 · 39%
▼ 53%→42% share
▼0.8× share momentum1 median citations57% since 2021mostly empirical
Advancements are cooling (53%→42% of field), led by Athletes.
rising sub-themes (early→recent)
  • Athletes4→13
  • Physical medicine and rehabilitation1→7
  • Physical therapy2→6
  • Analytics3→6
  • Football2→4
Newly emergingKey (lock) 0→5
Landmark Photobiomodulation in human muscle tissue: an advantage in sports performance? · 152 cites
▼ Concerns42 · 21%
▲ 21%→23% share
▲1.1× share momentum4 median citations60% since 2021mostly empirical
Concerns are rising (21%→23% of field), led by Athletes.
rising sub-themes (early→recent)
  • Athletes3→10
  • Sports medicine2→4
Landmark The Placebo and Nocebo effect on sports performance: A systematic review · 147 cites
RESEARCH HOTSPOTS · United States

Where sports tech is researched across United States

Location clusters by institution affiliation — each city's volume, stance tone, and a quick read on its hot topic, what's advancing, the opening opportunity, and the main concern.

Boston9 · +0.07
Opportunity · Misinformation
New York6 · +0.28
Opportunity · Elite athletes
Los Angeles6 · +0.20
PATENT SIGNAL · United States

Who's filing sports tech patents in the United States

United States sports tech patent filing is steady — 59 filings from 29 assignees (2016–2025), led by Stats, TRUE FORM, Cipher Genetics; annual filings 5→5.

59 filings29 assigneespeak 11/yr2016–2025
filing momentum (YoY 2016–2025)
top patent filers
  • Stats17
  • TRUE FORM11
  • Cipher Genetics7
  • Gamechanger Analytics6
  • AR & NS Invest6
  • Lucey Patrick6
  • WEI Xinyu6
  • SHA LONG6

Common questions

How many Sports Services companies are there in Chicago, United States?
Radar tracks 31 indexable Sports Services companies headquartered in Chicago, United States that meet our profile-completeness bar.
What is the total funding raised by Sports Services companies in Chicago, United States?
The Sports Services companies in Chicago, United States on this list have raised a combined $20.7M in disclosed equity funding across 7 funded companies.
Which is the highest-funded Sports Services company in Chicago, United States?
APP is the highest-funded Sports Services company in Chicago, United States, with $7M in disclosed equity funding.
How many Sports Services companies in Chicago, United States are funded?
7 of the 31 Sports Services companies in Chicago, United States on this list have disclosed at least one equity funding round.
How many Sports Services unicorns are there in Chicago, United States?
None of the Sports Services companies in Chicago, United States on this list currently has a disclosed valuation of $1B or more.
Who are the top investors in Chicago, United States Sports Services companies?
The most active investors in Chicago, United States Sports Services companies on this list include Bridge Investments, Bridge Ventures, Chicago Early Growth Ventures, Gaingels, Intersect Vc.
Rohit KhannaTrends & Stories

Rohit lives in the feed. He covers what's moving right now — the funding rounds, launches and shifts breaking across the trade press — and ties them back to where the sector is heading.

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