Catapult Named World's Most Innovative Company in Fitness and Big Data

Catapult Group International has received two awards for innovation from Fast Company magazine.

Catapult Group International, the global leader in athlete analytics, was ranked number one on the list of the World's Top 10 Most Innovative Companies of 2015 by Fast Company magazine. The Australian company was honoured in two categories – Fitness and Big Data – for its efforts in “innovation towards taking the guesswork out of injury prevention.”

“It’s an honour to be named on a list with great global leaders like Apple and Google, and to be ranked with other genuine innovators like Tesla and Kickstarter,“ said Dr. Adir Shiffman, Catapult's Executive Chairman. “Catapult is extremely proud to represent Australian innovation on such a prestigious list. We are still only a fraction of the size of some of these leading organisations, but nevertheless have been named alongside them as a global leader in innovation.”

Catapult develops algorithms that help monitor performance in specific sports and movements, allowing coaches to develop normative data for each position on their teams and objectively measure performance. The technology uses a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)-enabled monitor, a local positioning system that tracks and captures movement, and Inertial Movement Analysis (IMA) for micro-movement metrics, to deliver accurate biomechanical analysis during competition. Catapult's technology is used by more than 500 organisations and teams in the NFL, NBA, English Premier League, Australian Football League, National Rugby League, and NCAA football to monitor their athletes' health.

The Catapult system is scientifically validated to measure micro-movements and it allows trainers to monitor individual athletes. Trainers can use the performance data to discover athletes' norms and to objectively measure physical loads in order to reduce overuse injuries or assess if athletes are ready to return to play after an injury. With Catapult, trainers get their own personal dashboard for player review with instant, customised reports after each practice. The system has a wide range of applications and is used in many different sports, including football, rugby, hockey, basketball, baseball, aerial skiing, surfing, snowboarding, gymnastics, diving, tennis, lacrosse and rowing.

Catapult Group International Ltd is based in Docklands, a suburb of Melbourne, and dedicated to research-based innovation and combining sports science with analytics to provide athletes, coaches and medical professionals with insight into athlete risk and readiness. The company was formed as a result of collaboration between the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) and the Cooperative Research Centres (CRC), and it continues to collaborate with more than 80 universities around the world to independently validate each innovation before release.

To learn more about the benefits of Catapult technology and see how it is used in football training, watch the video below.