One of the things the digital world excels at is producing data. That said, most of what’s generated just sits there until someone or something makes sense of it. The “something” these days is AI, and in the last three years, there has been an explosion in the number of new businesses that depend on AI for their very existence.
One such start-up is Colata, an AI-powered sports intelligence platform that consolidates all the various elements that sporting organisations typically manage, including tactics, medical issues, performance and fan engagement, and makes all related data easily accessible in one place.
Colata co-founder and sports scientist Dr Kieran Collins has spent more than two decades working in the field of data-driven performance optimisation, and his particular expertise lies in bridging the gap between raw data and actionable insights. While tossing around ideas for a start-up with his co-founder, Fiona Ryan, it suddenly struck him that there was a data-related problem right under his nose.
“Kieran had seen at first-hand how clubs struggle with fragmented data streams and how that adversely affects how efficiently they operate,” Ryan says. “Data ends up siloed, which hinders collaboration, manual data wrangling wastes time, decision-making is largely reactive due to lack of predictive insights, preventable injuries happen and commercial opportunities are missed. Basically, it’s a story of untapped potential because of disconnected data systems, and over 60 per cent of sports organisations don’t use data as part of their overall strategy.”
Colata (an amalgam of collect, collate and collaborate) is aimed at elite sports clubs, leagues, governing bodies, coaches, analysts, medics and club executives. It’s a B2B solution based on a SaaS revenue model, and will officially launch in November. Sporting bodies in Ireland and Britain are the initial target, with entry to the US planned for 2026.
Colata faces some competition in its sector but none that delivers “our breadth of integration and AI-driven actionability,” Ryan says. “AI is core to our platform, not an add-on. Our system was built by practitioners to address real-world sports challenges, and the focus is on delivering fast actionable outcomes with prescriptive insights, not just visualisation.”
The idea for Colata began to take shape in 2023. To kick-start the development process the founders participated in Science Foundation Ireland’s I-Corps training programme, which helps researchers put an entrepreneurial and commercial twist on their ideas.
Ryan says the programme constantly challenged them to refine their proposition, which, in turn, helped to lay a solid foundation for the business.
“I believe this rigour really paid off when it came to looking for support money. Enterprise Ireland (EI) is the primary backer for Colata. We secured €600,000 from EI, which I believe is the highest-funded sports tech start-up ever supported by them. We aim to raise funding of €1.5 million in 2026 through VC, angel investment and Enterprise Ireland’s HPSU [high potential start-up] support.”
The downside that goes hand-in-hand with any start-up is the possibility of failure, and Ryan says that as parents, both she and Collins had to be measured about how much risk they were willing to take. However, as someone who has spent a big chunk of her career working with start-ups on the advisory side of the equation, Ryan is perhaps more aware than most of the potential pitfalls.
Around 10 per cent of new businesses don’t make it beyond year one, but the biggest rate of attrition is in years two and three, when around 70 per cent go under as the cracks in product and people begin to show.
“One of the mistakes I’ve seen people make over and over is not adequately nailing the problem they’re trying to solve,” she says. “They have an idea of what the problem is and think that’s enough. It’s not.
“To accurately understand the problem involves a lot of research and a lot of time spent talking to people within the sector to verify and validate that you’ve got it right. Otherwise, you’re building a business on your own bias. People won’t part with money unless you’re offering something they actually want.”
Ryan and Collins continuously stress-tested their idea by leaning on TU Dublin’s innovation office and by participating in several start-up boot camps, including the NDRC’s pre-accelerator.
“We’re currently going through the AI Venture Forge at the Portershed in Galway, and we’ve found all of these programmes to be excellent in terms of the structure and focus they bring, including access to best-in-class mentors,” Ryan says.
She adds that getting the people mix right is another key factor in start-up success. In Colata’s case, she brings the management, sales and business acumen, while Collins (who is head of discipline at TU Dublin’s school of biological, health and sports sciences) works closely with the company’s tech team and brings the sporting and research expertise.
“I’d say one of the biggest challenges so far has been scaling a multidisciplinary team with niche expertise whilst also operating within a lean start-up environment,” says Ryan, whose other piece of wisdom for building out a team is making sure that any new hires truly want to work in a start-up.
“I’ve seen people struggle to adapt to the environment because it’s fast-moving and demanding, with an element of madness thrown in,” she says. “There will be long hours and none of the perks you get in bigger companies, but if the idea works and gets scaled, then it’s very exciting to have been part of that process.”
