Three former Duke football players are staying busy this fall sports season. But rather than taking the field, they are ensuring other athletes can keep playing and stay protected with custom 3D printed braces, splints and pads through their Durham-based company PROTECT3D.
Co-founders Kevin Gehsmann, Clark Bulleit and Tim Skapek started making customized 3D printed protective devices while they were still undergraduate engineering students at Duke University in 2018.
“Every device is designed by athletes for athletes, and we've trademarked the phrase compete without limits because that's exactly what these devices allow you to do,” Gehsmann, who serves as CEO, said.
The first custom device they created was in 2018 for teammate and then-quarterback Daniel Jones – now playing in the NFL for the New York Giants – who had fractured his collarbone. With the device, he returned to play after three weeks.
Inspired by the application of the technology, Gehsmann said the trio saw a business opportunity to offer custom protection to athletes across the country. And that’s what they’ve done.
PROTECT3D has supplied more than 300 game-worn devices so far, and Geshmann said he hopes to double that number by the end of this year as a result of having a more consistent customer base coming off the chaotic 2020 sports season.
Gehsmann said PROTECT3D has worked with around 30 college and professional brands, including local universities like UNC, N.C. State, Duke and Wake Forest, a professional hockey team and several professional football teams.
PROTECT3D licenses its software and technology to athletic departments who then purchase individual products. Gehsmann said devices can be produced for athletes of any sport with any injuries.
To create the devices, the company’s iPad scanning interface app is used to capture a 3D scan of an athlete. The scan is then sent to the team at PROTECT3D and the device is designed with anatomical precision before being 3D printed from their FDA-certified manufacturing facility in Durham.
The devices are delivered to customers within 48 hours of the scan being submitted because, as athletes, Gehsmann said they recognize the need to have the product quickly before the next game.
The company’s growth has been fueled by winning the NFL’s 1st and Future annual startup pitch competition in 2020, which came with a $50,000 prize and Super Bowl tickets. PROTECT3D was also awarded a $50,000 seed grant from NC IDEA in May.
The founders also raised a seed funding round of about $1.25 million this spring and summer from private investors. Gehsmann said the funds have allowed PROTECT3D to expand manufacturing and grow to four full-time employees and a few independent contractors.
Gehsmann said PROTECT3D plans to expand its customers by pursuing entry into the orthopedic market segment where a physician can prescribe their custom protection for high school athletes or average workout enthusiasts.
“The product list is ever-expanding and the opportunities for the applications of this technology is endless,” Gehsmann said.
