Tag Archives: nutrition

Kitman Labs, Iowa State Partner on Combined Medical Data and Performance Analytics Platform

Kitman Labs, the global enterprise SaaS platform providing the only single, centralized operating system for performance intelligence in Sports, today announced that Iowa State University will be deploying Kitman Labs’ iP: Intelligence Platform across all men’s and women’s varsity sports. They become the third current Big 12 Conference school to partner with Kitman labs, joining Baylor University and Texas Tech University.

Iowa State University will use the platform to centralize and combine student-athlete medical and performance data, providing appropriate Departmental Staff with a secure, comprehensive and real-time view of all athletes from a physical and mental health and wellness perspective. The platform will also enable collaboration between staff in the design and execution of individual rehab and training programs to unlock student-athlete progress and performance.

Beyond compliance, the Performance Medicine solution being deployed at Iowa State will help inform decision-making around medical assessments, diagnosis, treatment and return to play strategies. Iowa State University joins approximately 80 other NCAA universities who are currently using the technology from Kitman Labs.

“Like many other NCAA universities – Iowa State understands the urgency and critical nature of monitoring the physical and mental well being of its student-athletes and to ensure it’s utilizing every tool and resource necessary to support the holistic development of those students during their college tenure, while also developing them for life after school – either inside or outside of Sport,” said Kitman Labs Founder & CEO, Stephen Smith.

“At Iowa State, we realize that ultimate success includes the ability to communicate and share relevant information across all departments that impact student-athlete health, performance, and well-being as well as incorporating the various aspects of sports science which can allow for more informed decision making,” said Mark Coberley, Iowa State’s Associate Athletics Director for Sports Medicine.

“We performed a lengthy analysis of our options to incorporate a system that allows us to meet this vision,” he added. “We needed an all-encompassing system that was sensitive to our particular needs, desired outcomes and nuances across departments. We believe Kitman Labs was the leader in this area and will provide solutions for our vision. We are extremely pleased to partner with them.”

Kitman Labs has an established track record of working with top teams and athletes across a variety of sports, including soccer, basketball, rugby, and American football. The company’s technology is being used by some of the world’s most elite collegiate sports organizations, such as Michigan State University, Clemson University, University of Colorado among many others.

This expansion into NCAA institutions follows other recent business strategy moves Kitman Labs has undertaken. That includes the successful close of a $52M Series C funding round led by Guggenheim Investments, a global asset investment and advisory firm with more than $259 billion in assets under management and two strategic acquisitions of The Sports Office and Presagia Sports, both made in the last two years. The combined companies represent the industry’s largest network of elite and youth organizations (700+) and created the industry’s largest dataset of talent, performance, and medical data for all stages of the athlete lifecycle.

Kitman Labs Announces Transcontinental Deal with Chicago Fire and FC Lugano

Kitman Labs, the global SaaS platform providing the only single, centralized operating system for performance intelligence in the elite performance industry, announced a recent deal with the Chicago Fire of Major League Soccer (MLS) and FC Lugano of the Swiss Super League – both owned by Joe Mansueto. The deal will give both clubs access to Kitman Labs’ state-of-the-art Intelligence Platform including access to the Performance Medicine, Performance Optimization and Coaching & Development Solutions. The advanced operating system has now been deployed at the two clubs – and their Academies – with the full suite of resources now in play.

“While the number of individual clubs adopting our Intelligence Platform across both Europe and North America continues to scale, we anticipate that additional deals like this one – encompassing multiple clubs with joint ownership, straddling Leagues and addressing clubs with distinct training methods and styles of play – will become more frequent as we work with shared ownership groups,” said Stephen Smith, CEO and Founder of Kitman Labs. “There is nothing ‘cookie cutter’ when it comes to the bespoke needs, health and performance of a given club, but we think the economies of scale achieved and efficiencies realized by adopting the configurable platform by multiple clubs within a single organization will be a key multiplier for relationships like this for decades to come.”

Each club will work with a version of the system that has been configured for their specific needs. In addition, all club-related data will remain confidential – and only accessible to – that respective club. The collaboration between the Fire and Lugano performance staffs will provide shared learnings in real time as the clubs progress throughout their respective seasons. The partnership is designed to provide both clubs with deeper, strategic insight into all areas of on-pitch performance, ranging from developmental club best practices to helping gamify trade and transfer scenarios, making sure that injury prevention and maximal performance scenarios are created effectively and easily for all athletes, while giving performance leaders the ability to maximize every area of performance.

“In data-driven recruitment, matching the physical and medical profile of a player with the club and the league’s tactical and technical demands is paramount,” said Chicago Fire FC Director of Performance Nacho Torreño. ‘Through our relationship with Kitman Labs, we are working to develop the software that will allow us to track both the Chicago Fire’s and FC Lugano’s physical and medical metrics in one place and through one methodology. We are excited about the work being done that will give us an excellent understanding of how players from one environment will translate to the other. Additionally, this tool will also allow us to monitor players within our Academy, from the early stages through the professional ranks, to further enhance their development.”

“Kitman Labs is a value-add in the daily work of the technical staff of our first team and academy,” said FC Lugano Chief Sports Officer Carlos Da Silva. “It provides crucial support to those responsible for athletic preparation in terms of quality and intensity of training.”

Kitman Labs has an established track record of working with top teams and athletes across a variety of sports, including soccer, basketball, rugby, and American football. The company’s technology is being used by some of the world’s most elite sports organizations, such as MLS Next, Columbus Crew, and Bayer Leverkusen.

This new business launch follows other recent business strategy moves Kitman Labs have undertaken. That includes the successful close of a $52M Series C funding round led by Guggenheim Investments, a global asset investment and advisory firm with more than $259 billion in assets under management and two strategic acquisitions of The Sports Office and Presagia Sports. The combined companies represent the industry’s largest network of elite and youth organizations (700+) and created the industry’s largest dataset of talent, performance, and medical data for all stages of the athlete lifecycle.

Kitman Labs Announces Deal with New Zealand Football Club, the Wellington Phoenix

Kitman Labs, the global enterprise SaaS platform providing the only single, centralized operating system for performance intelligence in the elite performance industry, today announced a new deal with New Zealand’s Wellington Phoenix Football Club – the only New Zealand-based club in the Australian League. The club will be utilizing several Solutions in the Intelligence Platform, including: Performance Medicine, Performance Optimization and Talent Development. The Platform combines medical, performance and talent development data into a single, interactive system that yields actionable intelligence to support specific operating and performance outcomes.

The Intelligence Platform is being deployed across the Men’s and Women’s Teams as well as the Academy. The platform will serve as the singular operating system for the Organization – eliminating data and information silos, enabling cross-Departmental communication and providing a comprehensive, real time view of every player in the organization.

By deploying the Intelligence Platform across the Academy and First Teams, Performance and Coaching staff will be able to effectively systemize their talent pipeline, enabling the early identification and progression of talent across the entire organization while creating key performance benchmarks and markers to inform their overall talent development strategy.

“The Intelligence Platform has been designed to unify data, people and processes to support informed decision-making, streamline operations and ultimately, yield the action plan necessary to achieve critical performance outcomes,” said Stephen Smith, CEO and Founder of Kitman Labs. “By deploying the platform across every aspect of the club, The Phoenix will have access to a complete, 360 view of each athlete and each team, eliminating data gaps and providing the intelligence necessary to develop and execute their performance strategy across every department.”

“Football clubs are no different than any other complex organization faced with significant amounts of incoming data and information,” said Shaun Gill, Director of Football, Wellington Phoenix FC. “Traditionally that information gets stuck or siloed within specific departments or project teams with limited transparency or context. By adopting the Intelligence Platform across every aspect of the Wellington Phoenix Organization – from our academy to first teams, men’s and women’s – all relevant, pertinent data will not only be centralized, but integrated. Kitman Labs will give us a comprehensive, real-time view of every player at all levels across the club and will provide the analytics necessary to support informed, strategic decision-making – whether that’s related to our development and recruitment objectives or athlete performance and health.”

Kitman Labs has an established track record of working with top teams and athletes across a variety of sports, including soccer, basketball, rugby, and American football. The company’s technology has been used by some of the world’s most elite sports organizations, including Bayer Leverkusen, Malmö FF, Columbus Crew and MLS Next.

This launch follows other recent business strategy moves Kitman Labs have undertaken. That includes the successful close of a $52M Series C funding round led by Guggenheim Investments, a global asset investment and advisory firm with more than $259 billion in assets under management and two strategic acquisitions of The Sports Office and Presagia Sports, both made in the last two years. The combined companies represent the industry’s largest network of elite and youth organizations (700+) and created the industry’s largest dataset of talent, performance, and medical data for all stages of the athlete lifecycle.

Kitman Labs Announces Integration Deal with ZoneIn

Kitman Labs, the global enterprise SaaS platform providing the only single, centralized operating system for performance intelligence in the elite performance industry, today announced a new deal with ZoneIn – the most advanced evidence-based performance nutrition platform and app in global sport. ZoneIn currently serves over 20,000 athletes and 200+ performance specialists across pro, college and youth athletics. The ZoneIn platform will integrate directly with the Intelligence Platform from Kitman Labs, making their first party data related to nutrition and supplement management, instantly accessible to Kitman’s roster of sports and defense clients worldwide.

ZoneIn’s performance nutrition platform is currently used by EXOS and some of the biggest leagues in global sport, including the NFL, NBA, MLB, MLS, NHL, Premier League and NCAA for:

AI-driven nutrition management of Athletes

Personalized meal ordering and menu management

Integrated supplement management and inventory tracking

ZoneIn is joining the growing roster of premium data providers integrating with the Intelligence Platform, providing leagues and regulatory bodies, teams, clubs and defense organizations with a single, integrated platform built to unify thousands of single point solutions and provide a complete, holistic view of the athlete or service member.

“Kitman Labs is the leader in utilizing data in innovative and evidence-based manners to boost the health and performance of athletes. It is extremely exciting to partner with such a forward thinking organization and a company we have always looked up to,” said Kush Mahan, CEO and Founder of ZoneIn. “We are confident that the value that our unique integrated offerings will bring to organizations around the globe will be second to none.”

“Kush and his team at ZoneIn have built the best-in-class end-to-end dietician management platform and app in the industry and we couldn’t be more thrilled to announce this integration partnership. As the industry continues to grapple with the volume and velocity of data hitting them daily, we remain steadfast in our goal of providing the only single, centralized and fully integrated operating system in the market,” said Stephen Smith, CEO and Founder Kitman Labs. “Our technology has been designed to aggregate those data streams and convert them into actionable intelligence that supports the myriad operating and performance outcomes of our shared clients.”

This launch follows other recent business strategy moves Kitman Labs has undertaken. That includes the successful close of a $52M Series C funding round led by Guggenheim Investments, a global asset investment and advisory firm with more than $259 billion in assets under management and two strategic acquisitions of The Sports Office and Presagia Sports. The combined companies represent the industry’s largest network of elite and youth organizations (700+) and created the industry’s largest dataset of talent, performance, and medical data for all stages of the athlete lifecycle.

Performance Hydration Leader Ready® Joins Global Tennis Market with Miami Open Official Sports Drink Status

Ready® (@ready_nutrition), one of the fastest growing sports nutrition companies in America with co-owners NFL superstar Aaron Donald and world basketball icon Giannis Antetokounmpo, is making its mark in the tennis world, being named the Official Sports Drink of the Miami Open Tennis Tournament.

Ready® Athlete Jessica Pegula, America’s top ranked player and #3 in the world, will join fellow participants for one of the largest combined ATP/WTA combined tournaments in the world scheduled for March 19 – April 2 at Hard Rock Stadium.  The tournament sports a who’s who of past champions including Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic along with Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, Steffi Graf and the Williams sisters on the ladies’ side.

Ready® will use the high-profile exposure of the Open to highlight the launch of Ready® Light Sports Drink, its advanced, science-based beverage designed to optimize hydration replenishment and energy production.

The partnership follows Ready’s® signing of Pegula last August as a Ready® Athlete to represent both the brand’s products and provide a shining example of the unique goal achievement and perseverance mentality that is an integral part of the brand’s messaging and Pegula’s career.

Ready’s® sponsorship assets include product integration (sports drink, protein bars and powder) in player and recovery areas for competitor use, court and video board signage, on court cooler placement, product sampling, tournament social and digital branding, and commercial opportunities on the Tennis Channel’s coverage of the tournament reaching over 11 million viewers worldwide.  Ready® will premier Pegula’s first promotional spot for the brand on the telecast.

“We’re absolutely thrilled to be chosen as a partner with such a prestigious tournament featuring players from all over the world,” said Ready® Founder and CEO Pat Cavanaugh.  “We’re especially looking forward to our best-in-class products being available to help fuel the players and assist them in their recovery.”

Ready® Signs Steelers Quarterback Kenny Pickett

Ready®, one of the fastest growing sports nutrition brands in America with co-owners Aaron Donald and Giannis Antetokounmpo, today announced the signing of NFL first round draft pick and Pittsburgh Steeler rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett as a Ready® athlete.

Pickett was already quite familiar with Ready® having used its products while at Pitt, so the partnership was a logical extension. “Kenny already knew the fueling and recovery benefits of our products from his own experience. We really focus on our mentality and mission; and it became obvious he was a great fit to be a member of the Ready® Team,” said company founder and CEO Pat Cavanaugh.

Pickett will only promote products he uses during training, its Sports Drink and a few other select Ready® products in his various online and non-digital platforms. He joins NFL world champion Aaron Donald, NBA star and global basketball icon Giannis Antetokounmpo, and top rated American female tennis player Jessica Pegula as Ready® brand champions and ambassadors.

Pickett was the 2022 first-round draft pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers after a stellar senior season when he was a Heisman Trophy finalist, first team All-American, and voted ACC Football Player and co-Athlete of the Year while leading Pitt to an ACC Championship.

“Kenny is a great example of continuing to work hard and remembering it’s not where you start it’s where you finish, which is a pillar of the Ready® mentality that defines our brand,” said Cavanaugh. “Throughout his career and breakout senior season, he continued to get better and better achieving one goal after the next. He’s just getting started.”

“I’m excited to be part of the Ready® Team especially since I’ve experienced the benefits of the products when I was at Pitt,” said Pickett. “The more Pat and I spoke about the brand and their mission to inspire athletes to take more pride in their effort than their talent; that attitude and mentality resonated with me and how I approach my football career.”

Ready® Signs Top Ranked American Tennis Star

Ready®, one of the fastest growing sports nutrition brands in America, today announced the signing of WTA tennis star, Jessica Pegula–the 8th ranked player in the world and the top ranked American female–as a Ready® athlete. She joins fellow Ready® team members NFL star and world champion Aaron Donald and NBA great and global basketball icon Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Pegula has been a steady riser on the WTA tour and Grand Slam circuit since her debut in 2011-12. Her determination and effort to join the elite of women’s tennis has paid off in 2022 with her ascension to a career-high WTA singles ranking of No. 7 in singles and a career-high doubles ranking of No. 6. Her and partner Coco Gauff will be one of the favorites for the double’s championship at The US Open.

The Buffalo native has won one WTA singles title and two WTA doubles titles, one WTA Challenger doubles title, and seven ITF doubles titles. She is a three-time Grand Slam singles quarterfinalist, having reached this stage twice at the 2021 and 2022 Australian Open and once at the 2022 French Open. She is also a Grand Slam finalist in doubles, achieving this feat at the 2022 French Open with Gauff.

“We’re very selective on who we sign as members of our Ready® Team Roster,” said Pat Cavanaugh, Ready® founder and CEO. “We look for people who take more pride in their hard work than their talent. Beyond athletic excellence, we love seeing someone be relentless in their journey to make their best, better. Jess’s grit and determination over the last 10 years to grind and improve her game to reach her goals and her current world ranking is a great testament to her mentality and the kind of mindset that defines our Ready® Brand.”

“I am really excited to partner with Ready®, a sports drink and nutrition company that helps me stay prepared on and off the court,” said Pegula. “I put tremendous pride into my team, my training, and what I put into my body.”

When I first tried Ready®, the products stood out to me above everything else out there. As Pat and I continued conversations, we shared philosophies on hard work and determination to continue moving forward no matter what life throws at us. Seeing the athletes that Ready® is currently working with, Aaron Donald and Giannis Antetokounmpo, it’s an honor to join two champion athletes and be the first female athlete partner of Ready®.”

Ready® sports nutrition products will continue to fuel Pegula that she’s been using for the past year in her workouts and training. She will promote the Brand and its portfolio of scientifically formulated, performance products in her various online and non-digital platforms.

Ready® Earns Full Distribution at Walmart; Ready® Bars Set for National Launch

Ready® (@ready_nutrition), one of the fastest growing sports nutrition companies in America with co-owners Aaron Donald and Giannis Antetokounmpo, continues to rapidly expand its national distribution with the June 24th launch of its Ready® Protein Bars in over 4,400 Walmart locations nationwide.

After less than a year in approximately 25% of Walmart stores, America’s largest grocery retailer notified Ready® it had earned full distribution with its performance that includes all 50 states.

Ready® Bars can be found in Walmart’s Cereal and Snack Aisle, packaged in convenient, 5-Count Boxes. Flavors include Chocolate Peanut Butter, Dark Chocolate Sea Salt, Dark Chocolate Coconut Almond, Vanilla Swirl and Chocolate Chip. The all-natural, Project Verified Non-GMO Bars feature 15 grams of protein and seven grams of fiber and are gluten free.

Ready® Bars aren’t the only Ready® products sold in Walmart stores. The retailer also carries the brand’s Ready® Sports Drink flavors in select stores across 20 states.

“We’re excited that our Ready® Bars resonated so quickly with Walmart shoppers and our sales performance earned the opportunity for full distribution.” said Ready® founder and CEO, Pat Cavanaugh. “We look forward to introducing our brand and bars to millions of Walmart shoppers looking for a healthier, better-for-you, science-based snack bar.”