A SCOTTISH running industry start-up plans to take its technology global after securing six-figure funding led by Glasgow-based business angel group Gabriel Investment Syndicate.
Attis Fitness, founded in 2016 by 26-year-old University of Strathclyde graduate Tim Elizondo, announced the investment as it launched its debut product, Stridesense, after four years of development.
The company says its product is the only wearable fitness tracker on the market that can analyse a runner’s whole stride – not just the movement of wrists or feet – without the need to visit a laboratory.
“Our mission is to change the fitness tracking market for the better, by making professional running laboratory-grade technology accessible to all runners,” Mr Elizondo said. “In doing so, we’ll help people both improve their running and lessen the risk of injuries.”
The wearable fitness tracker consists of five motion tracking sensors, which are placed around a runner’s legs and waist in secured pockets in Attis’s Stridesense leggings. These then connect via wireless technology to an app and track the movement of users across ten specialised running metrics to provide specific, personalised feedback.
“We believe Stridesense is the future of running technology,” Mr Elizondo said. “As a sports engineer, I’ve been lucky enough to work with the latest sports lab technology and was amazed at how beneficial it is for performance and injury prevention. I wanted to make this technology readily available and accessible to all – not just professionals.”
Mr Elizondo, a passionate amateur runner, graduated from Strathclyde with a Bachelor of Engineering before spending a year in the University of Stirling’s sports business incubator, The Sport Hive. His ambition is for Attis to become “the Apple of running.” The company already employs two staff and plans to launch more mould-breaking products in 2021.
Gabriel Investment Syndicate was launched in 2012 by Gillian Macaulay, who helped support more than 100 young businesses in her previous role as managing director of Strathclyde University Incubator, which was set up in 1990 to support start-ups.
“We have a huge belief in Tim, the company and the product,” Ms Macaulay said. “With our investment, we believe Attis will help runners improve all across the UK and beyond.”
Other investors in the funding round include Strathclyde University’s Strathclyde Entrepreneurs Fund – which supports early stage ventures by the university’s staff, students and alumni – Shancastle Investments, an Edinburgh-based private family investment firm chaired by Guy Stenhouse, the former managing director of Scottish merchant bank Noble Grossart – and economic development agency Scottish Enterprise.
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