Prevent Biometrics, a sports-tech startup that creates a concussion-monitoring mouthguard, announced earlier this month it raised $5 million in strategic funding.
The Edina-based company’s mouthguard monitors athletes for impacts strong enough to cause a concussion. If the technology detects an impact above a certain threshold, it transmits a warning over Bluetooth to a mobile app.
Prevent's competitors have tried to use skin patches or helmets to detect impacts, but CEO Mike Shogren said his company's readings are more accurate because the sensor is anchored to the skull.
"All of the other people who try to do this, including some guys with the NFL, just don't have a full product we have," Shogren said.
The latest round was led by Phoenix Capital Ventures and will go towards the launch of an updated mouthguard to be released later in the year. The company also announced that Andrew Steinberg, founder and managing partner of Phoenix Capital Ventures, is joining its board.
Shogren said the company pitched its existing investors at the beginning of the pandemic asking for a relatively small raise that would put the company in position for a wider launch.
"That's what these funds have done," Shogren said. "We think we are really well positioned to change the sport of researching and protecting people from concussions."
Prevent's mouthguards are used by World Rugby in one of the largest head-impact studies ever conducted. The U.S. Department of Defense is also testing the technology as it pertains to battlefield injuries.
Prevent was founded in 2015 by licensing technology developed at the Cleveland Clinic.
