The business of sport has never been in ruder good health. Companies looking too improve the way we play, run, participate or follow are to the fore like never before.
In this week’s Sunday Business Post no fewer than 12 of the top 100 Start Ups identifies as those most likely to make magic in the next 12 months are directly involved in sport, that’s more than any other single sector.
Bionic Gym enables you to do aerobic exercise through electrical impulses rather than actually having to move or lift weights.
Bua Saddles is the work of industrial designer Martin Ryan who turned his work and his passion for riding into a new lightweight saddle that is generating international business.
Elivar is a nutrition product aimed at over 35’s. Devised by two Trinity College rowers Donal Hanrahan and Len Dunne, it’s targeting an audience who want to keep participating but have more complex nutrition needs now that they are growing older.
Game Golf has already signed deals with the PGA Tour and the Golf Channel in the US. It’s data capture and analysis technology is in a very sweet spot within sport on a global basis.
Golf Graffix focuses more on the marketing of golf than the performance of the players and is targeting 750 clubs to show what their holes are like and selling inventory to sponsors.
Ikon Talent is one of the few that uses connections rather than technology to make its mark. As a sports agency it has Jamie Heaslip, Cian Healy and Robbie Keane on its books and is making strong moves in music as well as sport under the leadership of Damien O’Donoghue and Caroline Downey.
Kitman Labs is perhaps the biggest success story to date within the Start Up list with Premier League and NFL teams flocking to its injury prevention technology. Kitman won the Award for Best New Company at the Sport for Business Business of Sports Science event in 2015.
Orreco is expanding from it’s Sligo base with a tie up via IBM to enable elite sports stars monitor their health and wellbeing through blood markers.
Queen B Athletics has ambitious plans to tackle Nike and Adidas’ with a range of sports wear designed especially for women athletes, designed in Cork and manufactured in Portugal.
Pundit Arena is bringing its mix of news and analysis in MMA, Golf, Rugby and select other sports to an online audience that now numbers over 1.5 million visitors a month. Ross O’Dwyer and Richard Barrett are co-founders with Rob Hartnett of Sport for Business of Sports & Tech, the global gathering of the two sectors taking place in Dublin in October 2016.
StatSports has expanded from its Newry base to become one of the world’s leading performance data trackers with teams across the highest levels of soccer, rugby and US sport using it’s Viper technology to track a wide range of player data.
Wyldsson is focused this year on building its healthy snack brand in the UK before moving it to the bigger US market. With Rory McIlroy as a fan it has a fair chance of making it big for founder Dave McGeady.
