A BELFAST sports tech firm headed by former Irish rugby international Andrew Trimble is to invest £1 million to develop its software and app platform.
Kairos’ platform is used by elite sports clubs and athletes to manage training schedules and programmes.
Set up in 2018 by the former Ulster Rugby star with Digital DNA founder Gareth Quinn, the tech firm’s platform is already being used by the Scottish football team, as well as Stoke City, MK Dons and Mr Trimble’s old rugby club.
The pair are now investing another £1m in research and development (R&D).
Kairos has benefited from around £128,000 of support from Invest NI since 2018. Now it is to receive an additional £197,150 from the economic support body to increase the functionality of its software and gather data on athlete performance and health, allowing the creation of individually tailored training programmes.
Mr Trimble said he had used his own experience of elite sport to develop the product.
“When we started out, we used Invest NI’s support to develop the initial stage of our software, which is already being used by top professional teams across the UK and Ireland and more recently the US.
“We want to continue this growth and are investing over £1m in R&D to develop our product further. Our new project will expand the initial scheduling and communications platform with increased innovative functionality across areas of wellness, analytics and performance, to help athletes and key staff achieve maximised results on match day.”
Kairos’ co-founder, Gareth Quinn said the company has developed a cloud-based platform designed to help athletes to focus on their own bespoke performance plans, while providing insights to coaches and medical staff.
“We hope to break into new markets and have our sights set on major sports teams across the globe. Invest NI’s team in the US is helping us and we’re already making promising connections with elite US sports teams.”
Invest NI’s innovation director, Dr Vicky Kell, said: “We have been working with Kairos since it started and have helped it to create five jobs, develop its brand and business model, as well as invest in R&D.
“This new investment will allow Kairos to keep up with the demand for more detailed analysis and tailored performance information.
“Such developments will assist global business growth. We have also continued to offer Kairos our advice during Covid-19, helping to adapt its sales strategy so that it can remain globally competitive .”
