Lumin Sports Technology looking to raise $750,000 for global expansion
A sports technology start-up backed by former AFL stars Matthew Pavlich and James Begley is looking to raise $750,000 to help it secure customers in the lucrative US and European markets.
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Adelaide start-up Lumin Sports Technology is seeking to raise $750,000 from investors, as it chases growth in lucrative US and European markets.
The Adelaide company, founded by former triathlete Ben Tripodi and backed by former AFL stars Matthew Pavlich and James Begley, has developed a series of digital platforms that collect and analyse sports data to provide insights for athletes and sporting teams.
Its flagship Phila and ARC platforms track, analyse and report on the health and wellness of athletes through smartphones, with the information shared in real time with coaches and medical personnel.
Lumin chief executive Mr Tripodi said the funding would be used to increase staff numbers and further develop the company’s digital products ahead of an aggressive push into overseas markets.
“What our technology does is help visualise data quickly, easily and effectively to allow coaching staffs to make the right decisions in real-time when it comes to training, recovery and management,” he said.
“We’ve had a strong run of early success and signed a number of significant sporting organisations, which has allowed us to rapidly develop our platforms in a real-world environment.
“We’ve been in product development and testing mode for the past 18 months and we’ve proven our product in professional sports.
“This next wave of capital will allow us to grow our sales rapidly and increase our subscriptions in Europe and the United States.”
Lumin secured a $148,000 Federal Government grant last year, and raised $140,000 in seed funding from investors.
It is currently working with Adelaide Crows high performance general manager Matt Hass, who is using Phila and ARC to track the wellness of players.
Other users include Boston University’s NCAA track and field squad, Cycling Australia, and professional cycling squads including NTT Pro Cycling, Team Katusha, Team Hagens Berman Axeon and Team Tibco Silicon Valley Bank.
Mr Tripodi plans to target professional sporting organisations across Europe and the US, including a number of NFL organisations that have already shown interest in Lumin’s suite of products.
The additional funding will also be used to ramp up development of new products for the “prosumer” market - users with a direct interest in the design and production of the technology.
“We believe there is potential for growth in the athlete data pathway from juniors through to full professional sport,” Mr Tripodi said.
“We will eventually make available our ARC platform to the prosumer market, so that prosumers can collate and track their data and then share this data with professional sporting teams to give themselves the best chances of being drafted or getting noticed by scouts, or so they can just have a central location where all their sporting data is being collected and visualised.
“This could involve athletes uploading data with a combination of Strava and Garmin Connect, for instance, but for more non-endurance sports.”
Mr Tripodi said Lumin would be open to exceeding its funding target for “suitable investors”.