Wisconsin residents – from avid triathletes to occasional weekend warriors – and institutions ranging from the University of Wisconsin to the Green Bay Packers, are potential customers for data-rich sports tech applications.
But if the young Badger State health-tech companies that make these apps want to grow, they need better financing, a panel of executives from several Madison and Milwaukee startups said Tuesday at a Wisconsin Innovation Network luncheon – appropriately named “Abs and Apps.”
Many sports teams, colleges, hospitals, coaches, officials and athletes are open – and sometimes even excited – to hearing about new technologies, said Dave Grandin, a former UW-Madison swimmer and CEO of kiio, Inc. His company makes wall gyms and wireless sensor devices dubbed “force monitors” that measure, transmit and analyze resistance training from physical therapy and athletic workouts.
“But we have to have the resources to grow,” he said, noting that Wisconsin has many talented engineers and information technology experts with sports- and health-related backgrounds. “And the weakest link here is investment.”
Bill Sotis, CEO of Web Racing, Inc. said Madison is often rated as one of the fittest communities in the nation. The area is home to several cycling industry companies and many triathletes – all of which make it a ideal spot to launch a fitness technology company. His firm makes virtual reality fitness software for indoor training and racing on equipment for cycling, riding, running, walking, skiing, rowing and other sports.
And Adam Wickersham, head of Milwaukee-based RaceTorch LLC., said his nascent company was given a huge boost working with UW-Milwaukee students who did market research and helped him redesign an electronic app that he hopes will replace starting guns at track and field meets.
Wickersham said he believes that while the track and field community can be tied to tradition, many school officials would like to replace their starting guns with less expensive electronic equipment that will not damage starters’ ears and give more accurate times.
He said UW-Milwaukee students sent questionnaires to 422 members of the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association and a whopping 390 responded saying that they would buy his product. He said the market for his product is huge, with more than 120,000 high school track teams in the United States who are using 1.2 million shells annually. Wickersham, himself an official, said he spends hundreds of dollars on shells for the track meets he works.
Grandin said the market for his kiio sensors is also mammoth, but he said he is focusing on selling to large healthcare organizations for physical therapy. UW Health was one of his first customers, he said, and the Mayo Clinic may soon be signing on.
An engineer by training, he said the key to understanding how much a patient – or athlete – is improving is having data that can be collected, managed and communicated easily. That would be a major help to the many patients who leave the hospital and soon drop conditioning programs because they don’t understand them or can’t tell if they are doing any good.
Sotis said Web Racing is focusing on consumers, health clubs and schools. He said many physical education teachers use heart monitors, pedometers and other equipment in their classes – having long ago dropped suspect activities like dodgeball.
“The fitness tech world is hot,” he said. “Individuals want data to show their doctors, compete with their friends or simply provide motivation. Teachers want the data we can provide to present to students to give them feedback and to give to school boards to show what they are doing – and justify they grants they are getting to pay for these devices.
“The country is now into the phase of mass adoption of this kind of technology,” he said, noting the success of the popular activity trackers manufactured by Fitbit. “It started 15 years ago with companies like Garmin, Nike – but now Fitbit is in every drug store.”
— By Brian E. Clark
For WisBusiness.com
