The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) and Flutter teamed up to deliver the Future of Racing event yesterday (Tuesday 10 February), as ten tech businesses from around the world pitched bold ideas to racing industry leaders as part of the sport’s drive to secure future generations of racegoers.
In an event at Flutter’s London headquarters, the companies were each given an opportunity to present their pitch to a collection of leading industry figures and venture capitalists, who then asked questions of those pitching to best understanding how their offering can help the sport.
Those invited to pitch in London were selected from more than 100 applications received since the announcement of the initiative in 2025 and included companies with solutions ranging from equine health data management to racegoer experience optimisation. Overall feedback from industry guests was hugely positive; the concepts from the startups were considered to be strong and the programme will now continue in earnest to look at how the sport could take the concepts and adopt them in the future.
The ten businesses speaking at Flutter’s offices were:
- Sleip – Equine gait analysis on mobile phones
- AWAG – Assesses and monitors the cumulative lifetime experience of horses
- Equitech Analytics – Wearable horse performance trackers
- Konektt – Horse and yard management platform
- Stablfy – Using AI to support training and equine welfare
- Theo Health – Smart clothing tracking biometrics to aid rider welfare
- E-Nano – Automated racecourse surface analytics
- Raw Stadia – Racecourse surface, ground and going analytics
- Horsebox – Simplified pathway to shared horse ownership
- Fanbase – Raceday management tools and fan app
The Future of Racing Summit, which was also backed by RMG, York Racecourse, and ClimbUK, builds on insights from Project Beacon, a survey of more than 7,500 people undertaken to create the most comprehensive picture of racing’s audience ever.
It identified the cost of attending race meetings, difficulty in understanding the sport’s terminology and the welfare of racehorses as key concerns among racegoers, with these challenges particularly pronounced among the 18-28 age group.
With this in mind, yesterday’s event sought pitches from startups with a spotlight on four key themes:
- Horse welfare – technologies to enhance equine safety and welfare
- Education – simplifying the sport for newcomers through accessible tools
- Raceday Experience – elevating the social and entertainment value of attending live events
- Behind The Silks – offering fans immersive, behind-the-scenes access to the racing world
David Jones, Senior Independent Director of the BHA, said: “The Future of Racing Summit was a fascinating event that demonstrated the range of technologies that exist which have the potential to grow our sport.
“It was most heartening to see companies travelling from all over the world to pitch to senior racing leaders, demonstrating that those of us inside the sport are not alone in seeing the opportunities that exist within British racing; others do too and we should be excited by what that tells us.
“What Project Beacon has done is create a data set that businesses can understand and target solutions towards. I look forward to following the relationships that have been developed through the course of this initiative and learning more about how they can help support our goals for racing’s future.”
Sebastian Butterworth, Strategic Racing Director for Flutter UKI, added, “We have been delighted to work alongside the BHA on the Future of Racing programme, utilising the skills and experience of our internal Alpha Hub team in exploring the world of innovative and emerging technology.
“The event this week was fantastic, and it was great to see a wide array of ideas coming from people from across the globe.
“I’d like to thank all those who attended the event. We are really looking forward to continuing the work with the BHA to progress the programme over the coming months and explore how the concepts we heard can come to life and help grow our sport.
A further showcase event will be held at York Racecourse later in the year to provide an update not only on the outcomes from yesterday’s Future of Racing Summit but also the wider work of Project Beacon.
