Plantiga Raises $1.2 Million for AI Insole That Helps Track Movement to Monitor Athletic Health

By Thomas Price | Tuesday, 29 June 2021 | Startup, Tech, Health & Wellness

Technology in the field of sports medicine and fitness is advancing at breakneck speeds to better track performance and overall health. As more athletes and individuals look for ways to improve their own training regiments, new devices are being created to help offer insightful data and analysis. Plantiga is a health tech startup that is building new technology directly into a shoe insole and recently raised seed funding to help invest further into its technology and expand business operations into new territories.

What Plantiga Offers and Ongoing Success

Health tech startup Plantiga has created an AI-powered sensor that fits directly into a pair of shoes as an insole. The AI insole developed by the company measures direct physical performance on a number of different metrics, including speed, distance, asymmetry, and overall Movement Quality Index (MQI). The MQI is determined by the balance between pushing off the ground, absorbing the shock of returning to the ground, control over limbs, and overall performance.

The company offers this technology directly to individuals who want to improve their own training, recovery, and movement. The larger point of business for Plantiga is team trainers and healthcare workers. For business partners that work with the military, the health tech startup can provide valuable data through its AI insole. The data helps to better understand the impact caused by using heavy equipment to optimize future gear.

For healthcare workers, the company offers data that can be used in clinical trials research to further explore disease progression and how it affects movements. Sports trainers can help athletes prevent injuries and improve recovery times for clients by better monitoring athletic performance and mobility through the use of the AI insoles. Athletics and fitness are the most important business demographics for the health tech startup.

All information is tracked and automatically made available to the user or practitioner online or through the Plantiga mobile app available on Android and iOS devices.

The company is already incredibly popular as the AI insole has garnered use from training teams and individuals in the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, and MLS. Furthermore, the health tech startup has done business with several physiotherapy clinics as well as both the Canadian and United States (US) military.

Plantiga Funding and Future Plans

In the most recent funding round for the company, Plantiga raised $1.2 million in capital. The funding round was led by Harlo Equity Partners with participation from Globalive Capital Partners and several professional athletes.

The new funding will be used to expand the sales and marketing team as Plantiga continues to make business inroads in professional sports. The health tech startup will also be improving its Plantiga app for individual use, which will allow regular consumers to receive better, easier to understand data. Investments will also be made by the company to improve the AI insole.

When commenting on the AI insole and Plantiga app, founder and CEO Quin Sandler said, “Our goal is to positively impact millions of people by focusing on optimizing both their movement health and performance. We know very little of how people move, and especially in the real-world, but the way someone moves tells us so much. We can optimize our movement patterns. We can increase mobility, range of motion, speed and more. We can push the boundaries of what's currently possible.”

About the Author

Thomas Price

Tom Price is a writer focusing on Entertainment and Sports Features. He has a degree from NYU in English with a minor in Creative Writing. He has been previously published for Washington Square News, Dignitas, CBR, and Numbers on the Boards.