Sports science technology firm Kitman Labs has announced a Series B funding round of $4 million. In total, the company says it raised $9 million during 2018.
Kitman Labs has developed proprietary software tools that use analytics to help prevent injuries and optimize athlete performance. The company’s Athlete Optimization System won the inaugural Performance Technology of the Year prize at the 2018 BT Sports Industry Awards.
According to Stephen Smith, founder and CEO of Kitman Labs, quoted in a press release, “2018 has been a year of transformation and acceleration for Kitman Labs—from the new solutions and expanded value we deliver to teams, to the market success and geographic expansion we’ve had to the addition of people in key management and customer-facing positions—and we are well poised to advance our market leadership and market expansion in 2019.”
Smith is a former conditioning coach for Leinster Rugby, a professional rugby team in Ireland. Kitman’s technology studies individual physical traits of athletes to determine which training methods or moments might make a particular player more susceptible to injury. He claims the teams that partner with Kitman have reduced injuries by 30 to 50 percent. Over the past year, Kitman Labs has expanded its partnerships across MLB, the NHL, MLS, the NCAA, the EPL, the German Bundesliga, and the Chinese Super League.
The company has offices in Dublin, San Francisco, and Australia. Pete Kight was among the investors to participate in Kitman’s Series B round. Kight founded the electronic transfer business CheckFree, which sold to Fiserv for $4.4 billion in 2007. To accommodate Kitman’s market expansion plans, the company also announced the hiring of several new staff members who will assume executive-level positions.
SportTechie Takeaway
The Los Angeles Dodgers partnered with Kitman Labs back in 2015 to create the company’s computer based injury prevention program. Kitman’s technology is also used by the Seattle Sounders of the MLS, and Kitman has been implemented at the UFC Performance Institute. Kitman’s predictive performance data analytics also found correlation between goal data and future success at the World Cup.