Kiwi push to crowdfund wearable running sensor

I Measure U is a developed sensor that measures body movement.

Kiwi start-up I Measure U has started a US$200,000 crowdfunding push on California-based platform Indiegogo to raise funds to help manufacture its first wearable technology consumer product, offering discounted products as the return on investment.

The two-year-old company has developed a sensor that measures human body movement through physiologically based mathematical models and is hoping to release a consumer product, IMU-Run, in the new year for runners.

It works by the runner strapping the sensor to an ankle to transmit data to a smartphone or smartwatch, giving feedback on running technique to reduce the risk of injury.

Co-founders Mark Finch and Thor Beisier set up the company in May 2013 after the two biomechanists won the University of Auckland's annual Spark challenge.

The company landed a A$250,000 ($281,818) two-year contract last year with Athletics Australia to develop wearable solutions for its elite athletes that measure training workloads to reduce the risk of injury and give better training techniques.

It has also been working with Harvard University biomechanist Dr Irene Davis, an expert on barefoot running mechanics, in a pilot study of such sensors for the US military.

The campaign pitch says up to 75 per cent of runners experience injury each year, with many such injuries preventable with the right feedback.

The IMU-Run product tracks the only metric scientists correlate with the risk of running injury - impact on the lower leg or tibial shock, the company says. The app will work on Android and iPhones and has been endorsed by the US-based Runkeeper fitness platform which has more than 30 million users worldwide.

Those who pledge money receive a perk, rather than equity crowdfunding, where they get a share of the company raising money.

In I Measure U's case, the perk is the consumer running product priced at between US$79 and US$99 depending on how quickly the money is donated, which Finch said was a significant discount to the expected US$150 retail price.

The US$200,000 is the bare minimum the company needs to make its product at the scale it needs to launch next year. If the campaign succeeds, it will try to raise further seed capital to fund growth.

I Measure U

• Developed sensor that measures body movement.
• US$200,000 crowdfunding push.
• Hoping to release consumer product in the new year.