What a Difference a Year Makes: International House Pitch Winner Sponstar Returns as Official Map Platform of SXSW 2026

Sponstar returns to SXSW as the Official Online Engagement Map for SXSW '26, marking a full-circle milestone for the International Accelerator portfolio company

AUSTIN, TX, UNITED STATES, February 1, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- One year after winning a pitch competition at SXSW, Sponstar, will return to SXSW as the Official Online Engagement Map for 2026, marking a full-circle milestone for the International Accelerator portfolio company and its founder and CEO, Manuela Seve.

Founded in February 2025, Sponstar was created to address a persistent challenge across physical environments such as events, retail districts, tourism destinations and cities: the lack of verified proof of human presence, first-party behavioral data and measurable return on investment tied to real-world engagement. Built as infrastructure rather than a single-use experiential product, the platform enables brands, organizers and municipalities to coordinate, measure and reward physical participation at scale.

Early in its formation, Sponstar received strategic backing from International Accelerator, which provided operational guidance and access to enterprise and public-sector stakeholders, and AngelouEconomics, which introduced the company to municipalities, tourism organizations and public-private partnership opportunities. These relationships positioned Sponstar for applications well beyond individual events.
Sponstar publicly launched at SXSW in March 2025, deploying geofenced activations and treasure hunts across Austin. During the festival, the platform supported more than 50 live activations with over 20 brands and thousands of verified, location-confirmed participants—validating its core technology in one of the world’s most demanding live environments.

“What stood out to us early was how broadly applicable the Sponstar model is,” said James Smith, chief commercial officer of the International Accelerator. “We saw it work across events, brands, cities and tourism ecosystems almost immediately. Manu built infrastructure, not a single-use product, and our role has been to support both the founder and a model that can scale across multiple industries and channels.”

Following SXSW, Sponstar expanded into additional flagship events, including New York Fashion Week, Texas Venture Fest and LA Tech Week, while also piloting private brand activations. In summer 2025, the company deployed a white-label activation at ETHCC in Cannes, demonstrating the ability to coordinate offline engagement using onchain systems. The year concluded with a major brand activation for Rivian at Art Basel Miami, delivering more than 52,000 verified physical brand interactions—more than three times internal projections.

As of early 2026, Sponstar reports more than 30,000 monthly active users and tens of thousands of verified physical engagements across deployments. The company has also introduced Starly, an artificial intelligence layer that models behavioral patterns from physical movement data to personalize engagement and rewards.

Sponstar now powers the official engagement map for SXSW 2026, supporting city-scale activations, brand-funded rewards and a unified marketplace for physical engagement—completing a transition from SXSW pitch winner to official infrastructure partner in one year.

“This is what happens when a strong founder recognizes an opportunity and executes with discipline,” said Angelos Angelou, founder of the International Accelerator and CEO of AngelouEconomics. “Sponstar proved its model in a high-stakes environment, adapted quickly and scaled into new markets. That combination of founder strength and real-world validation is what creates durable companies.”

SXSW 2026 will be held March 2026 in Austin.

James Smith
International Accelerator
james@iaccelerator.com
Visit us on social media:
LinkedIn
Instagram
Facebook
X

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.