Dutch startup DashTag raises $800K and unlocks FIFA game-like stats for every soccer player

DashTag, a Dutch-based tech startup, today announced the launch of its Sports Bot. Combined with its soccer-designed wearable, Dash, the Sports Bot enables any soccer player to engage with their personal stats. The company has raised $800,000 from angel investors to fuel the launch of their product and their expansion into the United States soccer market.

Stats pushed on your favourite chat platform

With the wearable Dash — and the bot — players get their own sports data pushed to their favorite messaging platform, just seconds after they stop playing. While the Dash measures highly accurate sprints during a match or training session, the bot engages the user on a personal level through platforms like Messenger, WhatsApp or WeChat. Types of data captured and used include: sprint stats, peer-to-peer comparisons, training history, weekly challenges and news updates.

Powered by artificial intelligence, the bot communicates with players in a way that they’re already familiar with from popular video games like FIFA17 and FootballManager or platforms like Twitch. The bot learns and gets smarter each time the user chats with it.

Large dashboards with graphs and data that only a trained sport data scientist can decode are history

”Large dashboards with graphs and data that only a trained sport data scientist can decode are history,” said Epco Berger, DashTag’s founder and CEO. No longer are log books of previous matches or trainings needed. DashTag brings understandable, relevant and no-nonsense data is pushed on demand to the user within chat.

“We saw an opportunity to bring tech to every soccer player, from grassroot players to professionals, that can unveil performance insights that were previously inaccessible,” said Berger. “The Dash was developed to capture direct, real-time feedback that has immediate value. We want to bring fun back to soccer through the use of new technologies and closing the gap between online conduct and outside playing”.

Key features of the Dash include:

• FIFA game stats about every player
• Instant messaging from the sports bot straight after playing
• Soccer-designed wearable, worn with no other additional accessory
• Highly accurate measuring including low, medium and high intensity sprints
• Player insights, comparisons and challenges

DashTag is advancing the growing trend of non-professional athletes quantifying their performance and improvement. Unlike high-end, expensive tracking and performance systems, DashTag focuses on the individual player, providing a more enjoyable and effective user experience.

The startup is currently looking for soccer clubs and organizations in the US to be part of the roll out program. “Clubs and soccer academies benefit from the Dash as well’, says Dirk van den Berg, co-founder and CMO. “They are key in the development of young players, and DashTag can provide access to concrete stats for all their players. Coaches and trainers can convert the data into useful insights and apply these across all levels of soccer — from tactics and technical aspects to motivation and optimisation of the team’s performance and results.”

For more information about DashTag and to be part of the rollout visit getdashtag.com.