In just a few years, sports wearables have evolved from clunky step counters to a full-blown battlefield for data, performance, and profit.
And everyone wants a piece of the action.
- AI is now decoding everything from fatigue to focus.
- And platforms are using the momentum to raise fresh capital.
Let’s dive into the wearables arms race 👇
History of “Smart” Wearables
First, let’s go through a quick summary of how wearables came to be…
Wristwatches are only 200 years old – with the first ones being created in the 1800s (and worn almost entirely by females).
The 1st “smart watches” appeared 20 years ago:
- 1998: 1st smartwatch
- 2010: Fitbit
- 2013: Samsung Galaxy
- 2015: Apple Watch
- 2015: Whoop 1.0
And “smart wearables” have followed a similar path…
- In 1999, two Australian entrepreneurs developed what would become Catapult — the product was commercialized in 2006.
- In 2009, a European soccer club became the first pro team to utilize in-game wearables for measuring player workload.
- In 2012, the Toronto Raptors had the highest rate of player injury in the league, so they started using wearables for early signs of soft tissue injury while practicing and playing. In the 2014 season, the Raptors had the fewest injuries of any team in the league.
And it makes sense…
The Rise of Sports Wearables
In 2019, I was strapping on my first heart rate monitor at Boston University.
Today, high school athletes are rocking GPS trackers, rings, and AI-driven weightroom sensors.
The market?
📈 Doubled from 2019 to 2022 to hit $27B.
⏳ On pace to hit $265B by 2026.
What started with watches has exploded into everything…
Key Categories + Players
Thousands of startups have emerged in this space.
If it can be tracked…a device has probably been built.
Let’s break down the key companies:
*I only included seed+ companies, we have multiple members in Profluence building in this space that will soon be included (I also want to create a market map, so if anyone wants to help, that would be appreciated).
💓 Heart Rate – Red zone data for smarter recovery.
→ Firstbeat, Polar
🛰 GPS & LPS – Speed, distance, and real-time load tracking.
→ Catapult, Kinexon, STATSports
🏋️ Weightroom – Velocity-based training with bar tracking.
→ Perch, PUSH, Proteus, GymAware, Beast
💥 Inertial Sensors – Measuring readiness, impact, and motion.
→ IMeasureU, XSens
🧠 Mind – Tracking mindset, mood, performance, etc.
→ iNSPIRETEK, The Zone, BlazePod
💦 Sweat Sensors – Detect cortisol and stress in your sweat.
→ Xsensio
💤 Sleep – Tracking sleep quality and recovery.
→ Garmin, Fitbit, Whoop, Oura, Beddit
🦶 Shoes & Insoles – Gait, force, pressure.
→ Plantiga, IOFIT, Sensoria
🧘 Smart Patches – Tracking sweat, electrolytes, etc.
→ Flowbio, iRythm, BioBeat, Masimo, Nix Biosensors, Vital Connect
🧦 Smart Clothing – Fabric meets data (still early).
→ Hexoskin, Sensoria, Strive, Myontec, Nextile
🩸Diabetes – non-invasive glucose monitors
→ Biolinq, BlueSemi, GraphWear
💊 Swallowables – ingestible sensors for core body temp.
→ BodyCap
🎯 Sport-Specific – Concussion-detecting mouthguards, smart googles, oxygen bodysuits, shin guard trackers, bat sensors, etc.
→ Too many to include
👁 Contact Lenses – overlay real-time data on your field of vision
→ Mojo Vision
🩹 Skin Patches – developing stretchable, screenless sensors
→ Samsung, UCSD
The Next Evolution: Unified Data Platforms
Here’s the biggest problem in wearables right now…
Everyone’s collecting data. Nobody’s combining it.
Right now, you have to use multiple different solutions:
- Sleep on Oura
- Heart rate on Whoop
- Sprint metrics on Catapult
- Load from the weight room
- Mental readiness in an app
The next wave?
Platforms that sync it all…giving coaches and athletes/consumers a full 360° view.
Think Plaid, but for wearables (and AI will help in stitching it all together).
Going Forward: Sports Wearables
Only 6 years ago at Boston University, we started using heart monitors at practice.
And in another 6 years, I would expect nearly every high school, prep institution, and AAU club to be using them.
Wearable technology will move downstream (and quicker than you probably think).
Not only is utilizing wearables a recruiting advantage…
But may also be the difference in spotting injuries earlier and helping athletes reach their full potential.
Any edge on the competition could be worth millions in today’s sports landscape..
I’ll leave you with three questions…
- Is it possible that there are too many wearables and tracking devices?
- Could having too much data on your performance be a negative?
- In the name of “health,” are we fine with these tech companies knowing our location and everything about our bodies?
Targeting the trillion-dollar healthcare market, the wearables wars are heating up.
Exciting times ahead!
