UMass Amherst welcomes leading sports tech provider as first tenant

Private sports tech company CoachUp has recently relocated its headquarters to the innovation and collaboration space on the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) Mount Ida Campus which will provide unique internship opportunities for students. 

CoachUp will be the first tenant to co-locate with UMass Amherst, moving from its prior headquarters in Newton Upper Falls. 

This allows the City of Newton to retain the early-stage company which had outgrown its previous location. The prime location of the Mount Ida Campus in the N2 Innovation District is a strategic choice as it connects the state’s leading research university to the Greater Boston business community. 

According to CoachUp CEO John Kelley, the move creates various opportunities for the company to gain access to UMass Amherst’s talent pool for internships and employment. 

The company also intends to tap into the institution’s leading research resources in sports management and computer sciences programmes to advance growth and innovation. 

CoachUp is the nation’s leading platform for connecting athletes of any level with professional private coaches across the country. 

Founded in 2011 by sports tech entrepreneur Jordan Lancaster Fliegel, the platform also serves as a business management tool for coaches. 

Thanks to this new re-location, CoachUp will provide UMass Amherst with professional development opportunities for students in sports management, software development, marketing and more. 

This will generate new jobs for the region across various sectors and leverage the university’s leading research expertise to create a skilled workforce for the future. 

“We’re interested in partnering with companies like CoachUp that are seeking multi-level engagement with the university, including providing experiential learning opportunities for students via internships,” said Mount Ida Campus Managing Director Jeff Cournoyer. 

“Employee recruitment is the biggest challenge for Boston-area companies, so having access to the pipeline of talent UMass Amherst provides is valuable,” added UMass Amherst Innovation Institute director Kathryn Ellis.

“Professional development opportunities provided by internship programmes represent one engagement, which can lead to research collaborations and other student and faculty collaborations.”

The Mount Ida campus provides lab, office and co-working space facilities equipped with parking, dining, recreation and other amenities to resident companies and industry partners. CoachUp is occupying 2,000 square-feet of this office space.