We caught up with David Brownlee, CTO of TrainAsONE, to hear how the Sport Tech Hub helped them to develop and grow their business.
Tell us about TrainAsONE
It’s the first AI personal running coach. We collect running data from runners of all abilities – they just tell the system what they are training for, the date and distance and it designs them an adaptable running plan and literally every time they go for a run it readjusts the plan so it’s always on track.
We produce a training plan that is unique for that individual that maximises their performance gains whilst minimising risk of injury. That’s because the running is exactly tailored to what they need and it is very efficient so they get fitter, faster.
What have you gained from being part of the Sport Tech Hub?
It’s helped us a lot, it’s help us know what we didn’t know. We obviously understand building the product but the wider context, all of the marketing, the mentors have been particularly helpful. I think it’s taken us from being entirely focused on building the product to putting it into better context; to know where we should be going with it. In particular, we have had a lot of good relationships that have come out of it.
We have about doubled the amount of running/activity data that we had which provides us a much better data set to improve our AI algorithms.
What have been the main benefits of being part of the programme?
We’ve been able to work with other start-ups on the programme. (For) one start up in particular, our training system is now available via their phone app which has been good for both of our programmes. I think it’s the variety of presentations and expertise that London Sport has been able to put in the room with us which has helped us the most.
The first week on the programme there was lots of advice on how to monitor our users from people coming through the website to actually using the app and we quickly got the tools in place to do that and now we rely on that to make decision on which features we put in.
The more feedback you can give to London Sport and Sport Tech Hub the better that they tailor the programme to your needs.
What’s next for TrainAsONE now you’ve graduated?
So we’ve been able to go from the Sport Tech Hub incubator directly to the ODI accelerator to continue to help us there. It’s been a tremendous experience and I think the next six months will be equally as good as what we have experienced with Sport Tech Hub.
Just because we’ve finished the programme doesn’t mean that London Sport/Sport Tech Hub is finished with us. So we’ll be continuing to work with them and they will continue to help us.
What advice would you give to start-ups applying for cohort two?
You’ve got to be prepared to put the work in to get involved. It’s been wonderful being on the programme and we are excited to continue as alumni. Take the opportunity because the six months will fly by.
Sport Tech Hub is a 24 week incubation programme which exists to empower and scale early stage tech start-ups to create happier, healthier and more active populations. We have a strong pool of mentors and partners who provide support to our programme.
