The International Olympic Committee IOC, in collaboration with Alibaba.com, has officially launched the first phase of the fourth edition of the Athlete365 Business Accelerator programme , which aims to empower current and former elite athletes to transfer their skills into successful business ventures. Alibaba.com is the first worldwide Olympic and Paralympic e-Commerce Services partner to support this initiative.
The Athlete365 Business Accelerator is a unique business incubator designed to empower current and former elite athletes from all backgrounds with the skills to build and manage their own businesses. In support of the programmes latest edition, Alibaba.com will provide participating athletes with educational tools, mentoring services and funding.
This years edition has attracted applications from several hundred athletes from around the world. Just over a third 38 are from Europe , 20 are from Africa , 17 from North America , 13 from APAC, and 12 from South America . More than half 55 of these athletes represented their country at the Olympics in the past, whilst 46 are still competing and would like to become an entrepreneur at the same time.
In terms of their entrepreneurial ambitions, 56 of applicants already have a business idea, whilst 17 have made a first prototype of their business solution. More than one in ten 12 already have a business which generates stable revenues.
The fourth edition of the programme, which will launch in multiple phases, will build participants knowledge of business-critical areas and the fundamentals of e-commerce and global trade, including global sourcing and business-to-business B2B export through digital marketplaces. Participants will also acquire knowledge of Alibaba.coms artificial intelligence AI tools, which are transforming how small and medium-sized enterprises SMEs source products and connect with suppliers globally. Using the AI tools, buyers can search for products using a combination of videos, images and words and communicate naturally and intuitively with suppliers in their own language. This makes the sourcing process more straightforward and efficient, turning their product vision into a reality.
