Andrew Hippert

Investment Principal for Techstars NYC and Techstars Sports Accelerator

Andrew currently serves as the Investment Principal for Techstars NYC and Techstars Sports Accelerator Powered by Indy. In his role, Andrew launched the inaugural sports accelerator in 2019 and now leads the overall management of the program. This includes sourcing companies, building out the program calendar, securing speakers, managing relationships with 200+ mentors and investors, hiring and managing a program staff of 15 associates and identifying emerging trends in sports technology. He is also responsible for liaising with the Limited Partner group that sponsors the accelerator, which includes the state of Indiana’s Next Level Fund, the NCAA, Indiana Pacers, Indianapolis Colts, Indiana Sports Corporation, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and IndyCar. He also helped facilitate the inaugural One-Zero Sports & Entertainment Summit attracting some of the top sports VCs and founders in the world. The portfolio that he and his team have put together have collectively raised over $100M in venture capital and have seen a 2-3x average increase in valuation.

Prior to Techstars, Andrew spent time both in professional and collegiate sports, first with the Washington Wizards of the NBA, followed by the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C. In his role at Catholic University, Andrew served as the Assistant Athletic Director for Student-Athlete Recruitment and the Director of NCAA Compliance. He oversaw 25 varsity athletic programs and 550 student-athletes, and led an enrollment stabilization effort that resulted in a 25% and 35% increase in athletic recruiting year over year. At the Washington Wizards, he was responsible for driving new business and improving annual retention rates among a client base of over 500 corporate and personal accounts, yielding $5M in annual revenue.

Andrew has also volunteered with a number of organizations including the Hope for Stanley program, rebuilding homes affected by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. He also led the development and execution of the African Scholar Athlete Games, traveling to Namibia, South Africa and Kenya, which brought young children together from the African continent to connect through sports. His publications include the 2013 NBA Racial & Gender Report Card which tracked the hiring practices within the NBA for minority and female candidates in executive leadership positions. Andrew is currently the youngest member inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame under the Scholar-Athlete category.

Andrew holds an M.B.A. and Masters in Sport Business Management from the DeVos School at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, FL, and an undergraduate degree in Government & Legal Studies with a concentration in Conflict Resolution from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, ME. He resides in West New York, NJ.