Uplift Labs: Redefining movement analytics in sports

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Image credit: Uplift Labs

Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Uplift Labs was created by co-founders Sukemasa Kabayama, Jonathan Wills, and Rahul Rajan. Each brings years of experience in tech innovation, uniting their expertise to build a cutting-edge startup dedicated to improving human movement.

Mission

Uplift Labs is driven by a mission to enhance human movement performance across all aspects of life.

Their AI-powered technology delivers advanced analytics designed to optimise performance while reducing the risk of injury across sports, fitness, and daily activities.

With a strong focus on movement and health, Uplift places human interaction at the forefront of coaching and training, helping people move better in all areas of life.

Key Partnerships

Uplift Labs collaborates with a range of leading organisations to push the boundaries of movement technology, including:

LAFC

AWS Startups

Nvidia Inception Program

Driveline Baseball

Athletes Unlimited

Investment Profile

Uplift Labs is backed by a prestigious group of institutional and individual investors. This includes prominent professional athletes such as Seth and Callie Curry, David DeCastro, Eric Gagné, Marc Gasol, Andrew Luck, and Renee Montgomery, as well as celebrated Olympic medallists including Kosei Inoue, Kosuke Kitajima, and Yuki Ota.

With a unique combination of cutting-edge AI, strategic partnerships, and world-class support, Uplift Labs is poised to transform how movement is understood, trained, and optimised.

Solutions

The company’s solutions are split into three categories of Sports performance, Sports medicine and Sports media. This is Uplift’s vision on how to tackle these issues in sports.

Sports Performance

Gather accurate and reliable data for comprehensive movement analysis.

Track 28 key points to generate kinematics and movement-specific events and metrics across entire athletic movements.

Optimise your athletes’ movement performance.

Elevate your assessment of athletic movements and unlock athletes’ full potential by analysing functional movements using only iOS devices.

Make data and insights accessible and easy to understand.

Evaluate player movements in a variety of ways across your organisation, from detailed kinematic data to directional reporting and 3D visualisations.

Sports Medicine

Quantify movement health to improve baselines, boost performance, and reduce injury risk.

Establish baseline movement abilities to track improvements and identify potential risk factors.

Perform detailed movement assessments.

Evaluate players or patients and generate reports with valuable, actionable insights. Using iPhones or iPads, our solution reliably captures biomechanical and kinematic data in any environment.

Prioritise player health by minimising injury risks.

Maximise performance and reduce risks by collecting detailed movement data that highlights deficiencies and identifies opportunities for improvement.

Support rehabilitation and recovery with objective measurements.

Use individualised movement analyses, reports, and visualisations to develop informed return-to-play programming and rehabilitation plans. Provide precise Individual Patient reports to guide recovery.

Sports Media

Captivate fans with biomechanical data overlays during live games.

Boost fan engagement by presenting exciting content that overlays biomechanical data, offering a new perspective on elite athletic performance.

Deliver valuable insights in real-time.

Integrate Uplift with your media production pipeline to analyse player movement and provide instant, ready-to-use insights during live commentary or replays.

Enhance the fan experience with clear, engaging visuals.

Offer simple, engaging data on athlete performance and skills to help fans connect with the action. Provide fresh insights for commentary and graphics, helping fans better understand movement analysis in the context of their favourite sports.

Conclusion

As soccer continues to evolve, technology like Uplift Labs’ AI-powered movement analysis is becoming increasingly vital for the sport’s future.

By providing accurate, real-time data and actionable insights, Uplift empowers clubs, players, and medical staff to optimise performance, prevent injuries, and enhance player health.

The ability to track and analyse movement in such detail not only elevates athletic development but also opens new avenues for fan engagement and storytelling.

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Chelsea FC partners with Strava in landmark lifestyle partnership

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Image credit: Stock1987 / Shutterstock.com

The London-based giants announced the launch this week, marking a first-of-its-kind partnership for both the Premier League and Women’s Super League (WSL).

Connecting with fans

As clubs across the world look to find new and exciting ways of connecting with fans, Chelsea are showing that the answer – more often than not – already exists.

Strava is a running and fitness platform with over 195 million users across the globe. But the app represents more than just tracking speed – it is a social and lifestyle symbol through which users can connect.

And with presence in 185 countries, the app has the power to unite users from all over the world, making it a perfect fit for the globally-followed Blues.

“We are always looking at ways we can use our global brand to bring people together, often in unexpected ways,” said Brand Director for Chelsea Football Club, Scott Fenton.

“By working with Strava and becoming the first Premier League and BWSL teams to establish an official presence on Strava, we can lean into participation culture, understand where our fans are while offering new experiences for them and strengthen the bonds that unite our global community.”

Two brands with a huge international presence. One partnership which promises to encourage community, movement and healthy-living.

 

The intersection between sport and lifestyle

At first glance, Chelsea FC and Strava appear an unconventional partnership. Indeed, it is the first time a club has established an official presence on the app.

But at its core, the two organisations serve similar purposes: uniting people with a common passion for sport.

At its beginnings in 2009, Strava promised to replicate the feeling of team sports and unlocking new achievements, making a deal with Chelsea FC – one of the world’s most successful teams in recent years – a true full-circle moment.

“Chelsea FC joining Strava as the first Premier League and BWSL team to establish a global club on the platform is a powerful demonstration of how brands are engaging with their communities,” explained Director of Athlete and Community Partnerships at Strava, Mel Jarrett.

“We believe shared passion for movement creates real connections, and this collaboration brings that to life for Chelsea’s global fanbase.”

Spain’s Liga F receives history-making investment into women’s football

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Image credit: Liga F

The deal, worth AUD 91 million (€55 million) across four seasons, represents a monumental investment into Liga F and women’s football by Gasol16 Ventures and Fortified Partners.

 

Setting the pace

The investment comes as a hugely signficant moment in the history of women’s football not just in Spain, but across Europe.

But, given Spain’s commitment to growing the women’s game in recent years (and the world-beating teams it produces as a result), it is hardly a surprise that Liga F is at the centre of this milestone.

In the 2024-25 season, Liga F distributed AUD 28 million to its clubs, as well as doubling television audiences across two years.

The rate of growth is astounding, and shows no signs of slowing down.

“Women’s football in Spain has made a spectacular leap in recent years: audiences have almost doubled in two seasons, and stadiums are incresingly full,” explained Founder and President of Gasol16 Ventures, Pau Gasol.

“Therefore, this is not a sentimental commitment to women’s sport. It is an investment decision based on data, market trends, and the conviction that women’s football represents a growth opportunity with enormous potential for value creation.”

Thus, Gasol’s motivation reveals much about his own reasons for investing, as well as about the current status of women’s football in Spain.

The landscape does not want, or need, sentimental commitment. It is a financial and sporting powerhouse in its own right, and one which can grow to new heights year-on-year.

 

Securing a successful future

Furthermore, the long-term nature of the deal (set for the next four seasons from the 2026-27 campaign) shows vision and ambition for what the league can become.

“This agreement allows us to look further ahead and equip ourselves with the necessary tools to continue building an increasingly strong, more competitive league with greater capacity to generate value for our clubs,” outlined President of Liga F Beatriz Álvarez Mesa.

“What excites me most about this alliance is not just the investment it brings, but the message it sends: there are people and institutions who believe in the potential of Liga F and want to be part of its growth.”

 

Final thoughts

This is in stark contrast to the current situation of the A League Women in Australia, which PFA Chief Executive Beua Busch described as at a “tipping point”.

The problems remain the same as they were several years ago. Investment, player satisfaction and attendances are well below other major leagues. The key is creating a product which presents the immense value of clubs, players and commercial opportunities.

Because when intentional investment comes, the question stops being ‘who will invest?’ but ‘who wouldn’t?’ .

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