Contxto – Professional football (or soccer for any Americans reading) teams can count on an army of doctors, technicians, and other experts to monitor their performance and help them improve. But when it comes to amateur leagues, players are often left to sort things out on their own.
So to give them the data-edge to improve, Argentine-founded sports tech Oliver recently raised €100,000 (~US$117,000). The startup will use the money for product development as well as launch into new segments, including women’s soccer.
Funding will also serve to take its product to market, most likely through partnering sporting goods stores.
Through a device and an app that use artificial intelligence and Internet of Things (IoT) tech, the startup wants to provide soccer players with insights to monitor their progress and avoid injuries.
Throughout this year and 2021, Oliver will focus on expanding within Europe. It already began distributing its solution among clubs in Switzerland, Rumania, and Spain.
Simultaneously, it has its eyes set on Asia and other parts of Latin America, like Brazil, Mexico, Uruguay, and Chile.
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IoT and AI tech take the field with Oliver
Using a “smart” shinguard, Oliver’s system gathers the data as a player goes about the field. An algorithm processes the information and then sends its findings to the app.
Unlike a generic fitness app, this startup’s product is built to review stats specifically for soccer (or futbol): kicking power, ball possession, passes, distance covered, and so on.
“We aim to democratize access to technology and offer a solution that doesn’t require infrastructure, big investments in tech, nor experts to access and understand the data our device generates,” says José González, CEO and co-Founder at Oliver.
- Related article: Sports streaming startup Fanatiz raises US$10 million
González, alongside Agustín Rozadas and Ezequiel Torti, founded the startup in 2018. With this recent investment, they’ve raised a total of €500,000 (~US$582,000) throughout its two-year run.
With a software development lab in the founders’ home country of Argentina and its headquarters in Barcelona, it’s safe to say that the startup is already within two of the most relevant markets when it comes to futbol.
And while at the end of the day, the Beautiful Game doesn’t need technology to be fun, it can help take your game to the next level.
Related articles: Tech and startups from Argentina!
-ML
