Sports Tech HQ

Ankle sprains are the #1 sports injury, and for years, recovery meant relying on clunky, inside-the-shoe braces that limit mobility. Enter TayCo Brace—a groundbreaking, outside-the-shoe solution that redefines ankle support. Designed for ultimate comfort and freedom, TayCo Brace offers athletes and active patients unparalleled mobility without compromising protection. Hear from TayCo Brace co-founder and CEO Gavin Ferlic as he shares the story behind this game-changing innovation and how it’s transforming recovery in sports and beyond.

As we prepare to kick off the 2024 Paris Olympics, Sports Tech HQ is taking a deep dive with USA Swimming. Joel Shinofield, Managing Director of Sports Development for USA Swimming, discusses the record-breaking, sustainable and innovative U.S. Olympic Team Trials recently held in Indianapolis, the inaugural USA Swimming Innovation Summit, and the role sports technology is playing in the growth of the sport.

Rory Billing, founder and CEO of The Fan’s Place, describes the company's app as the non-alcoholic beer of sports betting, providing a free-to-play platform that “removes the house” and ensures businesses and consumers alike can profit off a shared love of sports. The company is transforming customer loyalty programs, encouraging fans to get together (and get out into their community’s local businesses), and leveraging the growing markets of sports betting and fantasy sports to do so. Learn more about The Fan’s Place and Rory’s journey as an entrepreneur in the latest episode of the Sports Tech HQ podcast.

Alessio Cicolari, founder and CEO of AK Group, is an entrepreneur with range. His portfolio includes retail and e-tail for the sale of gaming PCs and hardware, leadership in the esports industry through events, competitions and management of a number of esports assets, the development of a gaming and esports bar in Italy, and an incubator and coworking space for digital professionals. Add to his remarkable career the recent announcement of DALLARA-AK ESPORTS, and it's clear he’s among the vanguard of esports, sim racing and the evolving technologies that are transforming the industry. 

What started as an effort by two high school coaches to increase multi-sport participation evolved into a remarkable recruiting and athletic analytics service that is now providing first-of-its-kind scoring and data to recruiters and evaluators. From building player profiles and comparisons to leveraging a vast historical context in track and field data, Tracking Football is changing the game and redefining how scouts view player performance and potential. Learn more as founder and CEO Mark Branstad and Vice President and COO Brian Spilbeler join the Sports Tech HQ podcast.

The team at RootNote believes that every business is a content creator and every content creator is a business. Across industries, as the media landscape changes and the definition of influencer evolves, the need for comprehensive, actionable data is critical. From musicians and digital storytellers to sports teams, their mascots and a wide variety of brands, RootNote is filling a void and disrupting the industry.Co-founder and CEO Jason Burchard joins the podcast to discuss the product, his journey as an entrepreneur and the future of data analytics.

Over the last 50 years, the average age of sports officials has gone up, and more recently, a severe shortage has gripped the profession. Through the revolutionary delivery of online curriculum, a change in culture and the pursuit of strong partnerships, Kyle Armstrong and RefReps  are saving the game - training a new generation of sports officials.

Since 2021, student athletes have been able to pursue NIL deals, making money from the use of their name, image and likeness. This shift has dramatically changed college sports and led to significant headlines for athletes like NCAA women’s basketball's Caitlin Clark, men’s basketball's Bronny James, college football's Shedeur Sanders and gymnast Livvy Dunne. But what about the thousands of other student athletes? What does NIL mean for them and their futures? Kerry Perry started EmpwrU to educate, empower and ensure all student athletes have access to NIL opportunities and the resources needed to succeed in college and in life.

Imagine if every seat in the arena or stadium had the energy and atmosphere of the front row - if you could feel every crack of the bat, whoosh of the basket or kick of the bass drum. That's exactly what Edge Sound Research is building. Their Embodied Sound™ technology is redefining audio and transforming the fan experience. CEO Valtteri Salomaki and CTO Ethan Castro join the podcast to discuss their journey as entrepreneurs, the challenges they overcame to develop this revolutionary product, and the journey ahead.

As wearable technology has proliferated the market, consumers are often asked to choose between their style and data. With wrist watches, in particular, that often means storing away a priceless heirloom in favor of the latest functionality. Alex Ocampo founded Ganance to change that, disrupting the wearable tech market with a modular solution that can make any watch a smart watch.