From waitlist to federation deals: how SmashVision is winning over volleyball

 Arnor and Emma both played volleyball at a high level, and both saw how much work went into a match after it was over. Teams spent hours going back over game footage, with several staff members involved, to work out how to adjust their playing strategy.  
Arnor brought the problem to Emma, who builds computer vision systems, and the question they kept returning to was a simple one: "Why can't the game analyse itself?" 

About two years later, that question has become SmashVision. The platform uses computer vision to track players, the ball and every action on court in real time. Coaches get instant insight into performance, strategy and physical load while the match is still being played. "Video in, live stats and highlights out, fully automated," the founders say. "No tagging, no analyst on the bench, no waiting for the final whistle." 

Volleyball is the fifth biggest sport in the world, and almost none of it has ever had this kind of analysis available. That gap is the market SmashVision is going after. 

Two founders who know the court

Emma and Arnor are life partners as well as co-founders. Both are engineers, but they bring different expertise to the company. Emma specialises in computer vision, AI and software. Arnor brings the network, sales, customer success and startup experience.

As they describe it, the team combines “someone who can build it, someone who can sell it, and two people who know exactly what a coach needs.”

From waitlist to first teams

SmashVision opened a waitlist before it had anything to sell. More than 150 clubs signed up within a few months, giving the founders a clear signal to keep building.

The product launched in February 2026. Since then, SmashVision has analysed more than 1,000 games, and over 30 teams have signed up for the coming season, including its first professional club.

The founders have also brought two prominent figures from the sport onto their advisory board: the head coach of the Belgian national team and the vice-president of the European Volleyball Confederation (CEV).

They credit much of their early traction to building within a community they already belonged to.

“Our first customers trusted us before they trusted the software,” they say.

A pay-as-you-go model helped lower the remaining barrier. Clubs can try SmashVision and see its value without committing to a licence for the entire season.

One deal, a whole league

Individual clubs are an important starting point, but federations are SmashVision’s main growth focus. A single federation agreement can bring an entire league onto the platform.

Topsport Belgium and the Belgian national teams have signed a three-year contract. Scottish Volleyball has now also officially committed to using SmashVision across its full league.

These agreements give the founders a route to reaching more teams through the organisations that connect them, rather than signing up every club individually.

The race to beat the season

The biggest challenge is the calendar.

“Volleyball decides once a year,” the founders explain.

When a club or federation opts to wait until the following season, a deal can be delayed by twelve months. That makes the run-up to each new season a crucial window for negotiations.

The second challenge is capacity. With two founders and a long list of technical improvements, they have to choose carefully where to spend their time. Their approach: set priorities and tackle them one by one.

Beyond the home court

SmashVision isn’t waiting to finish building its Belgian customer base before looking abroad. Alongside its confirmed collaboration with Scottish Volleyball, the founders are talking to clubs across Europe and potential partners in France, Australia and Japan.

ParaVolley Europe has also approached them about a partnership. They are exploring the opportunity, even though the platform does not yet support sitting volleyball.

“Volleyball is a small world and a global one,” they say. “Waiting until Belgium is finished would be a mistake.”

Alongside federation partnerships, the founders want to build a community of clubs, teams and players around SmashVision, starting in Europe and expanding into the Americas.

Why they joined imec.istart

Joining an accelerator wasn’t an automatic decision. The founders seriously considered staying bootstrapped and examined the investment terms closely.

“A convertible loan is not free money, so we read every clause,” they say.

What convinced them was the opportunity to grow faster with experienced support. They felt imec.istart could help them achieve twice the growth they would manage alone.

Through imec.istart, they gain hiring support, extra runway, access to the follow-on fundraising track and a wider network.

For the coming year, their focus is on improving the product, expanding the team and taking SmashVision into more markets. With funding, they plan to work on the company full time and bring in two engineers.

The question that started it all is now a working product, with more than 1,000 games analysed and federations on board. Next up: bringing those insights to more coaches, teams and courts.