A Boston-based startup that has developed wearable technology to help athletes track their hydration levels is steering its technology to a new sector at this weekend’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 IndyCar race.
The startup, Nix Biosensors, will pilot its technology for the first time with motorsports athletes on Friday at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois. More than 20 racers will use Nix’s wearable device during Friday's practice sessions, ahead of Saturday's Bommarito Automotive Group 500.
Venture-backed Nix has developed a biosensor device worn by athletes and that curates data on their fluid and electrolyte loss and skin temperature. The device can be paired to phones and watches, providing real-time data and notifications to give athletes, coaches and medical staff the ability to track hydration levels during competition and training.
"It’s really supporting their hydration strategy in the moment — in the field, on the track and on the ice — so they can optimize their safety and performance,” said Meridith Cass, Nix's founder and CEO.
While based in Boston, Nix has ties to St. Louis as a portfolio company of local sports industry-focused venture capital firm Stadia Ventures.
Nix this fall plans to begin commercializing its wearable technology for use in the endurance sports of running, cycling and triathlon. Cass said key to the 11-person startup’s growth expanding to areas, with company doing research pilots in other sports, as well in the military and labor sectors.
“We know that hydration is just fundamental to human kind, so the ability to really demonstrate the feasibility and needs in additional segments is huge,” Cass said. “For motorsports in particular, with just such extreme conditions and extreme consequences, really to us, it is a proof point of the value of something like a hydration sensor.”
At World Wide Technology Raceway on Friday, Cass said she expects the company could see some of the largest fluid and electrolyte losses by users of its technology, given the high temperatures inside the vehicles' cockpits and the large amount of protective gear worn by racers. Cass said Friday's pilot will help Nix examine the use of its technology in a new setting while also giving racers individualized data on their hydration needs.
“This will help them prepare for future training and competing settings,” she said.
