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 Founders of promising new ventures to tell their story. Feel free to contact us if you know of a startup that should be considered for this series.
Company: Pressure Analysis Company
CEO: Michelle Urban
Headquarters: Albuquerque, New Mexico
1. What is your elevator pitch?
Pressure Analysis Company (PAC) designs and manufactures wireless pressure sensors that detect impacts inside helmets for contact sports, such as football. Our pressure sensors are embedded into our first product, SmackCAP™, a skullcap that wirelessly transmits data in real time to the sidelines. The data is also stored in the cloud so that an ImPACt Scorecard™ can be downloaded on each athlete showing where, how hard, and how many times they were hit over the course of the game, the season, or their career.
2. Problem & Solution
The problem is that accelerometer sensors primarily detect only the hardest, concussive hits. However, studies have shown that it is the accumulation of all hits – both large and small – that lead to brain trauma. These hits can also lead to the sometimes fatal, degenerative brain disease called Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or CTE. Athletes under-report their injuries that researchers, doctors, and other experts fear can cause permanent damage. Without adequate data, it will take longer to get to a solution.
The SmackCAP™ sensors collect data on every hit. Our sensors are different than other sensors on the market. Our patented sensors were tested against two of the leading competitors at a national research laboratory and the results of the tests showed ours to be more sensitive, accurate, and consistent in detecting impacts. This means that our sensors detect both small and large hits, and record them over the playing time of an athlete. Our hope is that athletes, athletic trainers, and doctors can use the data to better assess the risk and performance levels of athletes.
3. Market – your target market and the overall market
Our overall market is contact sports such as football, soccer, rugby, and lacrosse. We are starting with football on a broad level. Our customers are parents of younger athletes and professional and university-level teams. Our first customers are the Duke City Gladiators professional arena football team.
4. Business Model
We are now taking pre-orders for the SmackCAP™, which should be available commercially by the third quarter of 2016. We have a retail model, and plan to sell individual caps to parents of young athletes as well as to amateur and professional teams through partnerships and team package deals.
5. Management Team
Michelle Urban MBA, CEO
6. What else do you want the audience to know about your venture?
We will begin beta testing our SmackCAP™ with the Duke City Gladiators, a professional indoor football team, in March 2016. We are commercializing technology developed at the University of New Mexico by PAC board member Scott Sibbett PhD, a biomedical researcher. The company recently completed the ABQid accelerator, a 12-week program for startups, and its CEO Michelle Urban won the Scrappy Startups competition as well as the Small Business Administration’s local InnovateHER competition.
Pressure Analysis Company was also selected as a participant in Tech.Co’s Startup Night at SXSW where Urban will compete in a pitch contest. You can vote for us to win the Startup of the year by visiting this link.
Additionally, the SmackCAP skullcap is available for preorder now. Reserve yours today at www.epactechnologies.com.
- Our sensors are made in Albuquerque, New Mexico
- Our sensors are patented
- We love sports, and we want to see contact sports continue, and continue safely
Bonus Questions:
If you were to invite any CEO to dinner who would it be and why?
Reed Hastings – In a similar way that I am a fan of sports, I am also a fan of groundbreaking businesses. I had been a fan of Netflix, even when their content selection was subpar. Hastings had a brilliant idea that, much like PAC, was outside of the norm and met with resistance. Though he seemed to make the wrong decisions, such as raising prices and self-financing programs, his long-term vision is becoming clear. He took huge risks, and we’ve all benefitted by having access to the best TV and film projects in this decade. I would want to ask him how he dealt with the resistance, how he made investors trust him, how he found the creative team to pull it together and what his next bad/good idea is.
If you could go to any sporting event, what would it be and why?
The first game where our sensors are used and have an impact on a player’s performance.