Startup accelerator Lead Lake Nona has a new teammate: the Orlando Magic.
The professional basketball team has agreed to a multiyear partnership with Lead Lake Nona, run by Berlin-based Lead Sports & Health Tech Partners and Tavistock, the organizations announced March 14.
Lead Lake Nona gets hundreds of applications from startups around the world each year, only accepting a handful of companies to host at its innovation hub in Lake Nona. Lead Lake Nona offers mentorship and coaching to the companies accepted into its program, as well as connections to companies and investors that can help those businesses grow.
The Orlando Magic, and its esports team Magic Gaming, now joins Lead Lake Nona as an "innovation partner." That means companies accepted into Lead's programs can work with the Magic to test and scale their products.
The Magic will help turn Lead Lake Nona into "a testing ground for real-time feedback that will drive new opportunities for innovation in Orlando," Lead CEO and co-founder Christoph Sonnen said in a prepared statement.
Meanwhile, the Magic aim to work with Lead Lake Nona and turn Orlando into "a global technology hub," Orlando Magic Executive Vice President of Strategy and Innovation Jay Riola said in a prepared statement. "With Lead’s unparalleled expertise in sports and health tech innovation, this partnership will provide our organization and fans the ability to experience the latest developments in the tech space and will also offer our organization an even greater ability to propel innovation and emerging startups in Orlando."
In addition, Lead's Orlando office at 7400 Tavistock Lakes Blvd. becomes the home of Magic Gaming. The esports team, which competes in the NBA 2K League, will use the office as a place to train and compete.
Lead announced in 2020 it would partner with Lake Nona master developer Tavistock and expand from Berlin to Central Florida.
Since then, the program has hosted 17 companies developing innovative products for sports, fitness and wellness. Companies accepted into Lead Lake Nona get a $75,000 cash investment, a six-month mentorship program and access to a host of Lake Nona facilities that include hospitals, the United States Tennis Association National Campus, the Lake Nona Performance Club and the Verizon 5G Innovation Lab.
Plus, Lead Lake Nona may invest more money into cohort companies from its $30 million Lake Nona Sports & Health Tech Fund.
Meanwhile, Full Sail University plans to host a youth esports tournament on its campus in June 2023 with XP League for kids ages 8-17 who want to compete in gaming. The tournament will provide several game titles where kids can participate and will include physical and mental health exercises, in addition to communal gaming.
The global audience for esports also is expected to grow.
Newzoo in a 2022 report projected that the esports audience in the world will grow from 532 million people in 2022 to 640 million in 2025. The total number of enthusiasts — which the company said is those who watch events more than once a month — is expected to grow from 261 million now to 318 million in 2025.
Staff Writer Ryan Lynch contributed to this article.
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