A new technology is coming to the weight room.
Founded by three MIT athletes, Cambridge-based Perch uses computer vision and machine learning algorithms to monitor an athlete’s movements during exercise in the gym. The startup recently raised a $4 million round from investors like Bradley Bloom, Ledgeways Ventures LLC and Byron Jones, who plays cornerback for the Miami Dolphins.
“The value we really provide is the underlying algorithms. We think we are hands down the best in the world at using cameras to recognize and track strength training movements,” said CEO and co-founder Jacob Rothman.
Perch’s technology takes the form of a small device that gymgoers can strap onto weight racks. The device contains 3-D cameras and a small computer that connects via Bluetooth to a tablet. An athlete signs into their account via the tablet and starts working out.
“They just work out like they normally do, but that camera is now tracking their sets, reps, their speed, about nine different metrics,” Rothman said. “And while they’re lifting, they’ll get immediate visual and auditory feedback on the tablet.”
Some of the other information Perch tracks includes power output, time to peak velocity and explosiveness. The technology also manages leaderboards so athletes can compete and compare their data.
“There’s a ton of benefits, but we’re not necessarily making any recommendations with the data. It’s all about how you make the coach better at their job and enhance motivation of athletes in the weight room as well,” Rothman said.
Rothman and his co-founders Nate Rodman and Jordan Lucier began thinking of ideas for a fitness technology company in 2015, when they were students at MIT. They noticed there were quite a few new products aimed at aerobic fitness and data tracking, like the Apple Watch and Fitbit, but nothing for the weight room. Rothman had also experienced several injuries that led to an early end to his baseball career at MIT, including a herniated disc from strength training.
“By collecting more accurate data around how you’re progressing or improving over time, if you’re overtraining, if you’re stressed out, there are ways that you can hopefully predict or prevent catastrophic injuries,” Rothman said.
The co-founders founded Perch in 2017 after graduating and spent about 2 years building the product. Rothman studied mechanical engineering, Rodman concentrated in electrical engineering and computer science and Lucier studied computer science.
At the start of this year, Rothman said Perch had less than 10 employees. Now the team, which is located at the Industry Lab coworking space in Cambridge, has about 20 team members. With the new funding they’re looking to hire engineers in data science and machine learning, as well as marketing and sales employees.
If Perch meets its goal of having 30 to 35 employees in the next 12 months, Rothman said they would need to find a larger office. The current space includes the company’s manufacturing area and a gym space. Moving would allow the company to expand both, Rothman said.
Perch has focused on selling its products to professional sports teams, including 12 NFL teams, college and high school sports teams and the military.
Rothman said the pandemic slowed their growth slightly as the professional sports world shut down temporarily. At the time, he said, the company wasn’t at the right stage to take advantage of the at-home gym boom. Selling its product directly to consumers is still “a little bit further off,” Rothman said. Perch plans to continue focusing on its core market of professional athletes and military personnel.
“I would say it all comes down to improvements in performance and injury reduction are really the core use cases that we’d be providing,” Rothman said.
