This series showcases the local ventures and technologies that aims to evolve the sports industry in Australia and abroad. It gets the founders, owners and CEO’s to tell us a little about their story and their hopes for success in the sports tech field.
In this profile we spoke to SensorBull.
Please give us your background on how your company was conceived.
Our founder is a strong advocate of exercise in the pursuit of health and in reduction of community scourges such as obesity, heart failure, diabetes, oncology and mental health. He also believes that elite performance improvement has spinoffs for health generally. He considers that innovation in some of the sports industries and health industries by creating base line measurement for populations will substantially lower fitness, health and medical costs. And then there is the Wallaby scrum…
Can you give your best elevator pitch?
Most sports rely on leg drive. This is true of leg intensive sports such as rowing and cycling but also true of controlled leg drive sports such as tennis and golf. SensorBull is focused on whole body strength measured by force sensors used in conjunction with particular equipment and apparatus. SensorBull is producing apparatus to measure leg drive, namely, force, acceleration and force for a period, to enable measurement and improvement in a range of sports.
SensorBull is applying its technology in rehabilitation of sports and age related injuries. If clinicians can measure aspects of body strength, they can more easily diagnose injury and the means by which the injured person can be rehabilitated. Measurement of strength should show improvement in body health as a result of their intervention, diagnosis and action taken. This is particularly true of injury to backs, shoulders, hips, knees and ankles.
Briefly describe your product.
SensorBull’s product is apparatus, equipment, software and know-how for measuring athlete’s leg drive for training and coaching purposes. Once leg drive has been measured it can be improved and strengthened. The improvement should show in absolute force, force acceleration and force for a period.
The technology is designed to enable assessment and improvement of sports and age related injuries. The body comprises a number of moving parts which if disrupted in their function can lead to reduced performance at one end of the spectrum and reduced quality of life at the other. This particularly occurs in points of connection between bones, ligaments and muscles. It can result in reduced earning capacity on one hand and relatively high costs on the other. SensorBull is focused on measurement and improvement, both in healthy and injury related situations.
What problems does your product tackle and the solutions that you are trying to solve?
Many problems exist in health because there has been insufficient base line measurement or normal and deficient health, the cause, rectification and management of the problem. This holds true for elite performance in sport and diagnosis and rehabilitation of the body, particularly where joint disability has occurred.
SensorBull takes a holistic view of body health, but then drills down to specific areas where improvement in performance, or reduction in disability and restoration of health is required. This requires focus on strength and measurement at particular points of the body, namely, neck, back, shoulders, arms, hips, knees, ankles and legs.
Have you identified a customer or target market?
Our product is ideal for athletes who are looking to improve their performance and those who are recovering from an injury. Our initial focus is on sports which where leg drive is a strong component for success. It seems logical to focus on one or more of basketball, rowing, cycling, football and swimming. We have identified specific sports and target markets but also professions and industries which would benefit from this technology. Exercise and health provide a matrix of need – but our start point must be narrow so that traction is obtained for the product in a sport or industry. The quality of the technology should provide the ability to scale horizontally and vertically.
How do you intend to scale your business globally?
It is a global product and the markets overseas are much larger than the local market. Most sports are international. We intend to establish a beach-head in Australia and use the Australian expatriate sports network to penetrate overseas, ensuring the sports are selected and the countries are selected on the basis of participants and dollar turnover. Essentially the product scales if participants believe use of the product conveys competitive advantage or health improvement to the user.
Looking into the future, what do you foresee for your company five years from now?
We aim to be a recognised authority in sensor based measurement in sport for personal training and competition participation. Our brand needs to be developed both for the specific user base in each sport and for the education, training and performance based profession in each sport. The product is relevant to different industries in fitness and with some modification to specific health and medical industries. We aim to develop our intellectual property to be able to compete effectively in each market. In five years SensorBull should be recognised for this expertise.
With thanks to the Sydney Sports Incubator. The SSI is a NSW Government sponsored program whose primary partners are Sydney Olympic Park Authority (SOPA), NSW Institute of Sport (NSWIS), SportsCamps Australia (SCA) and Lakeba, the technology partner. The SSI reviews and supports sports themed innovation (in software, hardware, nutritional and medical applications) that may have a direct and positive impact within the sports community as a whole from grassroots through to the elite.
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