Carnegie Mellon University’s Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, in collaboration with the AI Strike Team, has announced the finalists for the Forge to Field AI Pitch Competition, a high-profile event focused on breakthroughs at the intersection of artificial intelligence and sports.
The competition will take place on April 22 in Pittsburgh as part of the Powering the Future of Sport Draft Week Showcase. Six finalists, selected from nearly 100 applicants across more than 10 U.S. tech hubs, will compete for a share of a $1.75 million prize pool, including up to $1 million in AWS cloud credits.
The selected startups reflect a growing trend of applying AI in performance-driven environments such as sports, healthcare, and real-time analytics. The finalists include companies developing technologies ranging from neuromuscular sensing platforms and AI-driven injury prediction systems to advanced sports analytics and coaching tools.
The six finalists are:
- Flowstate, focused on AI-powered video analysis for sports media and operations
- MyoVerse, a wearable neuromuscular sensing and analytics platform
- Peachy Day, a migraine prevention app leveraging predictive health tracking
- Perforated AI, applying neuroscience breakthroughs to injury risk detection
- ServeSense, offering AI-driven coaching tools for racket sports
- Sensi Fit, delivering comprehensive athlete performance tracking systems
Each company will present to a panel of prominent judges, including entrepreneur and investor Mark Cuban, DICK’S Sporting Goods Executive Chairman Ed Stack, and UPMC Enterprises President Jeanne Cunicelli, among others.
The event is part of a broader initiative to position Pittsburgh as a leading hub for artificial intelligence innovation, particularly in physical AI applications. Hosted at Carnegie Mellon’s Robotics Innovation Center in Hazelwood Green, the showcase will bring together investors, founders, and industry leaders during NFL Draft Week.
The competition underscores how sports are increasingly serving as a real-world testing ground for AI technologies. The demands of professional athletics, such as rapid decision-making and high-performance analytics, mirror challenges in broader industries like robotics, logistics, and intelligent infrastructure.
Carnegie Mellon is also advancing AI integration in sports through collaborations with the NFL, including tools that provide real-time insights into team needs, draft prospects, and performance data.
Organizers say the event reflects both the university’s leadership in AI and robotics and the region’s growing momentum as a center for innovation.
KEY QUOTES:
“What inspires us most is seeing startup founders using generative AI in high-stakes environments where performance matters. They are moving beyond hype and into production. If you think of some of the foundational pillars of what makes AWS the right place to build for so many startups, performance, resilience, availability, it’s very similar to what is expected to perform at peak levels in any sport. AWS gives founders the tools and technologies to build systems that are fast, reliable, and production-grade from day one so they can operate at game speed.”
Deap Ubhi, Director And Global Head Of Technology For Startups, AWS
“The strength of response to this competition reflects Carnegie Mellon’s global reputation in AI and robotics, combined with the Swartz Center’s leadership in entrepreneurship. Working in close collaboration with the AI Strike Team, we’ve been able to bring together an exceptional group of companies from across the country and create a platform that connects them with leading investors, operators and partners at a pivotal moment for AI.”
Meredith Meyer Grelli, Managing Director And Interim Executive Director, Swartz Center For Entrepreneurship
“Pittsburgh has all the ingredients to lead in this next era of AI, from world-class research to real-world deployment environments. Through this event and the work of the AI Strike Team, we’re accelerating Pittsburgh’s position as an AI City, bringing together the people and platforms needed to build, test and scale these technologies.”
Joanna Doven, Executive Director, AI Strike Team
