Vicis is getting some help from the University of Alabama at Birmingham to develop a better football helmet. The Seattle-based startup on Tuesday announced a new partnership with UAB to combine expertise and intellectual property. Founded in 2013, Vicis has created the ZERO1 helmet that features a unique outer shell material designed to mitigate the forces thought to cause concussions on the football field and in other contact sports. The helmet will be used by players on the field next season. Researchers and physicians across the UAB campus, meanwhile, have spent the past several years learning about traumatic brain injury and concussions in football. The UAB Sports… Read More
Volt Athletics is raising more cash to help fuel growth of its intelligent strength and conditioning platform. The 5-year-old Seattle startup just reeled in an additional $770,000, pushing total funding to date to $3 million. The 16-person company will use the fresh cash to further develop its mobile app that prescribes sport-specific workouts based on an individual’s goals and a variety of other factors. The idea is to utilize the smartphone and algorithms to help high school, college, and professional athletes build strength and mitigate injury risk. The company differentiates itself by focusing on innovating the delivery of training content and expertise, versus… Read More
When companies ink an important partnership or venture into a new business vertical, they usually do so utilizing data and information to help support their decisions. But based on what former NFL linebacker and veteran entrepreneur Isaiah Kacyvenski has seen in the growing-yet-nascent sports technology world, this is happening far less often than expected. That’s why Kacyvenski is teaming up with 4-time U.S. women’s hockey Olympic medalist Angela Ruggiero and former Forrester VP of Research Josh Walker to launch the Sports Innovation Lab, a new Boston-based company that has developed a market research and advisory platform for the sports and fitness industry. The founders are working to build… Read More
OLYMPIA, Wash. — High school math teacher David Shick confessed his crime: playing poker online. Shick testified before the Washington Senate Commerce, Labor & Sports Committee this week that he played online poker from 2003 to 2006, which is when it became illegal in Washington state. He started played again for a period of time in 2009, he testified. “I realized that the state law was just an absolute joke,” he told the Senate committee. “Nobody was being arrested. And so here I am admitting that I’m a Class C felon. If that means I’m going to be arrested, I guess I could be the… Read More
OLYMPIA, Wash. — Skill or chance: Which is it when you play fantasy football? State Sen. Doug Ericksen, R- Ferndale, says fantasy football is a game of skill, and he wants the law to say so, as well. If fantasy football is a game of chance, it is illegal under Washington’s gambling laws. If legislation declares fantasy football a game of skill, it becomes legal under the state’s gambling laws. Small informal leagues among friends have flown beneath the radar on this issue. Rob McKenna, former state attorney general and a lobbyist for DraftKings and FanDuel, testified that fantasy football… Read More
