Abdul Foster has trained some of Houston’s biggest names in sports over the past decade. Now he wants to see them investing in local technology, including his own startup.
Foster co-founded Trainr in 2022, blending his experience in personal training with a growing market for software-as-a-service technology. The company is in a growth mode now and was recently selected for DivInc’s Spring 2024 Sports Tech Accelerator, the only Houston-based startup that made the cut.
"We really just want to make an impact for the personal trainer community," Foster said. "There's a lot of organization to be done in the trainer space, there are a lot of combinations to be made, and with Trainr that's my major goal."
Trainr was born from Foster’s first training client — his brother, former Houston Texans running back Arian Foster. Abdul coached Arian ahead of his 2010 breakout season, where the younger Foster led the league in rushing yards (1,616) and rushing touchdowns (16).
Foster explored personal training opportunities with the Texans but decided to go independent and opened his own gym to cater to Houston athletes, including former Rockets players James Harden and Clint Capela. Observing the struggles that personal trainers faced — such as a low income — led him to found Trainr to incorporate business needs like scheduling lessons, billing clients and forming communities.
Like other new sports technology founders in Houston, Foster is eager to see the Houston sports names he trained connect to startups and innovators through investments. He said the biggest gap between athletes and investment in startups is knowledge.
“[Athletes in Houston] aren't aware of the tech space," Foster said. "You take athletes like Kevin Durant and Steph Curry who live in Silicon Valley, and they're inundated with the information around them. This city is not known for that. And I think we could do a better job of connecting to athletes here."
According to a report from global tech investment bank DrakeStar, 2023 was a record year for sports technology deals, with over $37 billion in deals worldwide. The bulk of those were mergers and acquisitions. In addition to software-as-a-service companies like Trainr, sports tech also encompasses wearable technology, virtual reality and artificial intelligence, media production, and online gambling.
Organizations like DivInc have looked to sports tech as a way to diversify the Bayou City’s industry makeup, pointing both to Houston’s well-established sports teams and the success of other athletes and sports leaders in investments, like former Dallas Mavericks majority owner Mark Cuban and tennis star Serena Williams.
However, a tangible footprint in terms of incubators or deals is harder to find. Lawson Gow and Chris Buckner, the co-founders of Houston-based technology, sports-tech and entertainment holding company Gow Cos., announced the sports technology conference Pokatok last year to be hosted in 2024. However, that festival was quietly postponed to 2025 and had not reserved any local venues for next year as of late April.
After collecting user experience data, Foster said the next steps for Trainr would be to roll out some additional planned features in phases. He also said he was in conversations with several investors but could not share a fundraising timeline.
Trainr currently has an office out of the headquarters of Houston-based venture capital firm Mercury at 3737 Buffalo Speedway, according to Foster. While the 12-week DivInc program is underway, the company also has a bench in the Ion in Houston’s Midtown.
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