New technology from startup ventures is transforming the sports industry. The mission of this series will be to introduce startup companies in the sports technology space to a broader audience and allow CEO’s of new ventures to tell their story.
Company: 1080 Motion
CEO: Anna-Carin Mansson
1080 Motion provides cutting edge systems for strength and power training as well as sports rehabilitation. The technology offers unique abilities to control and manipulate training resistance and speed with the use of software and controlled electric motors. There are no physical weights involved. During use the athlete’s power, force and speed is measured with high accuracy for real time performance feedback. This equips coaches, strength & conditioning and sports medicine professionals with new tools to achieve better training outcomes in shorter time.
1. What’s your elevator pitch. 140 character limit.
The 1080 Sprint revolutionizes sprint training with its smart programmable resistance and valuable performance data. The result is better speed and power development in less time.
2. Problem & solution
Running fast is essential to win in most any sport, and every sport or position has an optimal speed profile. How fast should the athlete accelerate and reach top speed? What’s the maximum speed and how long should it be sustained to be competitive? How do you identify the athlete’s limiting factors to apply the best possible training to overcome them? These are key questions for developing speed on the football field or track. How quickly we can decelerate and charge off in a different direction is equally important in most team and ball sports. Whatever the sport entails, it’s about moving quickly in the horizontal plane.
The 1080 Sprint system provides a range of new possibilities to train and validate running performance – whatever the requirements are in a particular sport. As much as it’s a smart programmable resistance device with a 90 meter pull cord, it is also a tool for measuring the athletes output in terms of force, speed and power in every single stride. It provides coaches with objective information, and training possibilities before only possible to capture in advanced sports labs. 1080 Sprint is a smart portable system that provides the information right where you need it – at the running track or the practice field.
The first real test of the 1080 Sprint system was at the NFL Combine training at the University of Kentucky. The system has since been proven in a range of sports including track & field, soccer and tennis. It is also used in swimming to test force output in water.
3. Market – your target market and the overall market
1080 Sprint and its larger cousin 1080 Quantum are tools for high level performance training and testing whether at professional, collegiate or amateur level. Users have in common that they know both the science and practice of training. They are open to gain improvements beyond the limitations of the traditional tools that have been around for decades.
The systems are also ideal for sports rehabilitation and testing of neuromuscular function at any level of performance and related research.
4. Business Model – how do you make money?
Our systems are ready to use devices comprising hardware and software. We provide user training and support with a range of tailored services to ensure customer success. We are a young company with a fast growing footprint. Our U.S. office in Austin TX was recently established to support the growing demand on the North American continent.
Peter Holmertz, U.S. and Canada sales and operations.
Ola Eriksrud – Head of Research. Physical therapist at the Norwegian Olympic Center, Assistant Professor at the Norwegian School or Sports Science.
Rolf Ohman – Sales, inventor, decathlete, coach.
Ali Ghelem, Education and test methods, performance trainer in elite tennis and golf.
Christoffer Bergkvist, CTO, technology wizard, power lifter.
6. What do you want the audience to know at this moment about your venture?
The time has come to take performance training a few steps further into the future. Our technology enables better insight into the limitations and potential of the individual athlete, and the means to optimize the training.
Anna-Carin is a successful entrepreneur and investor. She has founded and led many companies, is an active investor, and serves on several company boards. Anna-Carin is a former tennis European singles junior champion and 2013 Swedish singles, mixed, and doubles veterans’ champion. She joined forces with the 1080 team when they helped her come back after a bilateral hip surgery.
