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Aussie sports startup announces aim to raise $750K
Thu, 30th Jan 2020
FYI, this story is more than a year old

Lumin Sports Technology, the Adelaide based sports tech startup, has announced it is looking to raise $750,000 from investors.

It will use this money to finalise its platform as a turnkey solution to deliver to professional sports organisations in Europe and the United States.

The company was founded by former triathlete Ben Tripodi and backed by former AFL stars Matthew Pavlich and James Begley.

Its technology leverages accurate data collection tools and specialised visualisations to connect teams, from the athletes through to team decision makers.

Lumin has created a suite of unique and interoperable sports platforms, most notably its ARC and Phila platforms, as well as a suite of data collection applications including a smart scale integration for athlete weigh-ins and hydration.

The company states it is seeking capital from investors to increase staff numbers and to round out its current platform suite which will enable the company to deliver a turnkey solution to sporting organisations across the globe.

The additional funding will also enable the company to ramp up its development of a new suite of products targeting prosumers.

Limin CEO and founder Ben Tripodi says, “We've found repeatedly in our research of the market that Australia is looked to for its leadership in sports science, data and analytics.

“We've had a strong run of early success and signed a number of significant sporting organisations which has allowed us to rapidly develop our platforms in a real-world environment.

“We've been in product development and testing mode for the past 18 months and we've proven our product in professional sports. This next wave of capital will allow us to grow our sales rapidly and increase our subscriptions in Europe and the United States.

Tripodi added that Lumin is willing to oversubscribe on the investment target for suitable investors.

According to Markets and Markets, the Global Sports Technology market is expected to exceed AU$45.3 billion this year, up from AU$12.9 billion.

Lumin's current technology suite is targeting the Total Addressable Market of AU$946 million (Bottom Up Approach).

However, with a capital injection, the company states it can begin developing and testing a new suite of products focused on the prosumer space, which has a Total Addressable Market of about AU$32 billion.

Tripodi says Lumin is well-placed to capitalise on global growth in the sports technology market, as Australia is seen as a global leader in sports science and data thanks to the establishment of the Australian Institute of Sport and the leadership of sporting programs including the AFL, the rugby codes and Australia's numerous Olympic programs.

Tripodi says the plan is to target professional organisations in Europe and a number of National Football League (NFL) organisations in the United States, some of which have already shown interest in Lumin's portfolio.

He says, “Sports organisations abroad are creating more data every day, but its only recently that technologies such as ours have become available to make sense of it all.

“What our technology does is help visualise that data quickly, easily and effectively to allow coaching staff to make the right decisions in real-time when it comes to training, recovery and management.

At present Lumin has secured a number of customers, including pro cycling squads NTT Pro Cycling (formerly Team Dimension Data), Team Katusha, Team Hagens Berman Axeon and Team Tibco Silicon Valley Bank; Cycling Australia; the General Manager of High Performance at the Adelaide Crows, Matt Hass; and Boston University's NCAA Track and Field Squad, among others.

In 2019, the company secured nearly $300,000 from a combination of a funding grant from the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, and investors.