A Christchurch startup business has earned the opportunity to work alongside some of the biggest sporting bodies in the world.
Komodo Monitr is a software designed to help amateur athletes develop their skills and avoid injury.
The software, founded in 2018, is the brain child of three former University of Canterbury (UC) students: Matt Goodson, Jack Wood and Chris Bacon
Komodo Monitr’s software is used by strength and conditioning coaches in sport. Coaches can track an athlete’s workload and wellbeing to reduce injuries and maximise their performance.
Wood, the company’s business development director, said the software tracks things like stress levels, sleep quality, training intensity and duration, and then makes recommendations based on the data.
“One of the unique things about us is that we can work with any sport. Our background is in football, but we range from there to sports such as water polo and volleyball too.
“Its absolutely incredible that we’ve been given the opportunity to work with companies that are so specific to what we’re doing and are huge international brands – it’s a whole new experience for us.”
They recently beat 150 other startups to earn a place in the Taiwan-based Hype Spin sports accelerator, one of three high profile sports accelerators in the world.
After winning UC’s 85k entré competition, the software founders took their idea and business model to Te Ōhaka – a startup incubator created by Ara Institute of Canterbury and the Ministry of Awesome.
Ministry of Awesome chief executive Marian Johnson said the trio came with a strong idea and a platform, and left with a fully-fledged business model.
“What we’ve done since then is help validate their product by making sure it had a customer base and figuring out the right business model for that base,” she said.
At an angel investment summit last month, Minister of Economic Development Phil Twyford said innovation was the key to growing New Zealand’s economy, and New Zealand needed to harness such opportunities better.
Christchurch has churned out several exciting startups over recent years, enhancing the city’s reputation as an innovation hub.
Te Ōhaka is involved in another 19 startups, including Limpidity, which is trying to solve a $92 billion problem in the global aviation industry.
Last month, Stuff reported on a Christchurch startup that bypasses the voicemail system by transcribing voicemails into text messages. In 2015, Stuff reported on a startup expert who described the city as an “‘entrepreneur’s paradise“.
Komodo Monitr’s founders plan to expand into the Australian and Taiwanese markets in 2020, adding to their existing customers in New Zealand and Spain.
Source: Stuff.com