Fusion Sport has closed a $5.5 million funding round as the company’s AMS and performance platform Smartabase is increasingly adopted by the world’s top military, Olympic and professional sporting organizations.
The raise was led by Sydney based venture capital fund Equity Venture Partners (EVP) with participation from Adrian DiMarco, founder of TechnologyOne, and newly formed Athletic Ventures. Returning investors include former Wallabies Captain John Eales and Brisbane Broncos Chairman Karl Morris OAM.
Howard Leibman, Partner at EVP, commented,
“Over the past 12 months Fusion has entrenched its position as a leader in the human performance category, evidenced by the company’s exceptional levels of customer advocacy, retention and referral. Having established a truly global footprint, and having secured several landmark accounts across both the professional sports and military segments, Fusion is well positioned for its next leg of growth.”
Athletic Ventures (AV), is a group of past and present professional Australian sports people who have banded together to form a new investment syndicate to get exposure to the best venture deals.
Members of AV range from AFL, Cricket, Basketball and more and have signed on as investors in the latest round signalling their belief in a product they use.
Matt De Boer, GWS Giants Player and leader of the Athletic Ventures Group said
“Technology is playing a larger role than ever in Elite Sport. At the GWS Giants, Smartabase has become mission critical for the athletes and our high-performance managers, to optimize preparation for game day. It is evident Smartabase can optimize any high-performance teams preparation and ultimate performance which has therefore led members of Athletic Ventures to be backing the Fusion Sport team as they continue to scale Smartabase globally in sport, military, and the corporate world.”
See more on the topic from Matt de Boer on his LinkedIn here.
Fusion Sport founder and CEO Dr. Markus Deutsch, said “Having such a strong line-up of investors who come from deep in the heart of human performance optimization speaks to their confidence in our vision”.
Fusion Sport’s flagship product Smartabase has proven so successful in optimizing performance for elite sporting teams, Olympic teams and national organizations, that its customer base now extends to military organizations including the US Special Operations Command (SOCOM), US Air Force and Naval Health Research Center.
Workplace health and safety is now also an emerging market for the Smartabase platform.
Human performance optimization (HPO) is defined as the process of applying knowledge, skills and emerging technologies to improve and preserve the capabilities of humans and organizations to execute essential tasks.
“Whether an elite athlete, soldier, first responder or factory worker, these principles can be applied to all human endeavors,” Dr. Deutsch added. “The ultimate goal of any HPO program is to maximize readiness and reduce injuries/illness.”
The current COVID-19 pandemic has further emphasized that the cost of illness and injuries are staggering whether in sport, military, emergency services or the workplace.
Fusion Sport has been playing an integral role in the COVID-19 safe return to competition for various sports teams around the globe, including the recently concluded 2020 NBA season. Read more on that here.
Already used as a health and performance monitoring tool by teams in the NBA, NFL, NHL and various colleges, Fusion Sport’s Smartabase platform has been vital in assisting organizations roll out illness surveillance programs during COVID-19.
Military organizations in the United States have also been quick to utilize Smartabase for illness screening, including Air Force Research Labs (AFRL) implementing in depth pre and post deployment health reporting via the app. Read more on AFRL’s solution here.
According to Dr. Markus Deutsch:
“At a base level our COVID-19 monitoring programs utilize the Smartabase app for athletes, soldiers or employees to self-report on symptoms.”
“Once recorded in the app, users get instant feedback based on symptoms they’ve recorded, and that information also alerts staff in real-time so that they can assess next steps and implement testing and contact tracing protocols as needed.”
Dr. Deutsch says more advanced programs also include the integration of data from wearable technologies like Oura Ring and Bluetooth thermometers which can indicate the likelihood of illness based on physiological changes.
All of this data is pulled into reports in Smartabase, enabling operational and medical staff to monitor individual and team health as well as keep an eye on reporting compliance.
According to Deutsch, Fusion Sport has seen exceptional revenue growth over the last 12 months. “We expect this growth to continue as we have extended our client base to have a strong focus in the military and tactical space, particularly in the US.”
The new capital will be used to support ongoing product development whilst accelerating growth across the company’s core geographies, with a particular focus on military, professional sports and Olympic markets.
About Fusion Sport & Smartabase
Fusion Sport is the global leader in human performance software. Our clients include national sporting federations, Olympic committees, many of the world’s highest profile sporting teams, research and operational wings of military organizations and performing arts.
Our flagship product, Smartabase, is an intuitive platform of tools for customizing a performance data management system, without having to be a programmer or IT expert. Smartabase can be deployed to capture and analyze any type of data and then automate the analysis, reporting and sharing of that data.
Smartabase provides a central hub for managing human performance data and automating a range of reporting and alerting features. It also offers powerful integration features to assist with the aggregation of data from hundreds of different technology products and systems.
Founded in Australia, Fusion Sport is a global organization with offices in Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and New Zealand. The Smartabase Human Performance Platform is currently utilized by over 260 performance organizations and over 250,000 athletes and tactical operators.
For more information on Smartabase or to speak to our team contact us now.
