Abler raises €3.7m from Frumtak Ventures to impact public health through better sports management

Abler, a sports management technology company and creator of Sportabler, announced today it has raised €3.7 million in post-seed funding from Icelandic VC firm Frumtak Ventures. Abler simplifies the complexities of sports participation by digitising and greatly increasing efficiency in the management and facilitation of organised sports programs.

Abler’s product family connects all stakeholders and enables parents and guardians to register and pay for various activities, such as league football, handball, gymnastics and dance, as well as purchase related team-branded products. At the league and team management level, program organisers and coaches leverage Sportabler’s comprehensive management tools to significantly improve the administration of team sports and other organised activities. These administrative features include roster management, event management, venue booking, resource utilisation, logistics, e-commerce, contacts and communication between parents, coaches and league managers.

“Abler’s vision is to make good sports programs better and improve the working environment of an industry that plays a vital role in communities,” said Markus Mani Maute, Co-founder of Abler and former professional handball player in Iceland and Germany. “Sports improve the overall physical, mental and social health of communities, and we believe that strengthening the organisations that run these programs is key to increasing interest and participation.”

To achieve these goals, Abler has partnered with top experts in sports, psychology and academia to develop its products and services. The company has already captured a large share of the organised sports market in Iceland and is currently running pilot programs for youth league football and handball in the UK and Germany. While the system was initially designed for sports, Abler now also serves a much broader audience of organised groups that benefit from Abler’s membership management features, such as fitness centres, music schools and other organised activities. It will use the new capital to continue developing the Abler product family and deepen its reach in the Nordic, UK and EU markets.

“Abler is digitising the industry and serving everything from community youth sports to elite clubs. It’s an industry ripe for modernisation, and Abler is doing so in a way that drives physical and social health and well-being in communities across the globe,” says Svana Gunnarsdottir, Managing Director of Frumtak Ventures. “The Abler team has significant expertise in professional sports and youth program development and has combined this knowledge with the most advanced technologies to create fantastic new market opportunities.”

Abler previously received angel investment from notable gaming and tech investors Alli Ottarsson (Makers Fund, Riot Games), Siggi Olafsson (Novator, CCP Games), Thor Fridriksson (Plain Vanilla, TeaTime, Rocky Road), as well as professional footballers Birkir Bjarnason and Alfred Finnbogason, handball coaches Gudjon Valur Sigurdsson and Dagur Sigurdsson. It has received grant funding and support from the Iceland Technical Development Fund, the Innovation Center of Iceland and the Icelandic Directorate of Health.

About Abler

Abler is a sports and team technology company founded by Markus Mani M. Maute and Johann Gudmundsson. The company’s mission is to increase participation in sports and other organised activities to drive physical and social health and well-being in communities across the globe. The Abler product family streamlines administration and communication in organisations by providing a unified management platform for coaches and directors, improving overall service levels. The dynamic multi-program management system has also revolutionised the collections process by making it easier to execute and monitor payments, leading to revenue increases and cost efficiencies that make an impact.

Parents and guardians can easily register and track their children’s extracurricular activities in one place, receiving all of the necessary logistics, communication, make payments and access contact information while filtering out confusion or irrelevant information. For personal development, Abler has developed teaching tools to deliver structured character coaching through sports with promising results. Topics include, among others, self-confidence, grit and emotional intelligence. To learn more, visit sportabler.com.