Entrepreneurs / Small Business  March 3, 2015

Stryd launches power meter for runners via Kickstarter

BOULDER – Stryd, a Boulder startup developing a wearable power meter for runners, made a splash Tuesday by raising more than $80,000 on the first day of its Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign.

Stryd, officially Athlete Architect LLC, has been working on the technology for three years, enlisting elite athletes in the Boulder area in the testing process, but Tuesday marked the first availability of the device to the general public. Stryd officially will launch the device onto the market toward the end of summer or early fall.

Stryd’s Kickstarter campaign eclipsed its goal of $50,000 in about four hours Tuesday and kept climbing, offering the meters for $129 for the earliest backers and $149 after that.

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“We’re not totally surprised because we engaged the running community from the beginning,” co-founder Eric Olson said. “But we’re definitely pleased with the fast pace of it.”

Using power as a main standard for workout intensity is nothing new for cycling, in which a bike’s drive train is consistent. But human bodies provide anything but consistency when running given a wide variety of variables like different running styles of different athletes.

The Stryd device clips to runners’ waistbands, and with it the company’s founders believe their technology has solved the goal of measuring power for runners with a “small, unobtrusive” device. The meters sync with sports watches and mobile devices to give runners feedback that helps them set their own baseline data and better understand their performance and efficiency.

Olson said he expects that Stryd’s early adopters will be elite athletes, but that everyday fitness runners will be the main market down the road because the device can help people “run not only faster but safer.”

“In the long term, we actually see broader utility down to your fitness runners because it helps them know how hard to go,” Olson said.

A group of several founders, including chief executive and University of Michigan engineering professor Robert Dick and University of Colorado engineering professor Li Shang, started the company in 2012. Olson said the group has bootstrapped the venture all the way so far, but declined to disclose startup costs. He said the company would likely raise a seed round of funding later this year. The company has about 10 employees.

Stryd aims to ship its Kickstarter orders for coaches by midsummer, with athletes getting their meters in September. The official public release is also targeted for that September timeframe. The device will retail for $149, though Olson said the company is also working on research and development for a more elite version of the device that would dig deeper into the power metrics.

Stryd’s Kickstarter campaign runs through April 12.

BOULDER – Stryd, a Boulder startup developing a wearable power meter for runners, made a splash Tuesday by raising more than $80,000 on the first day of its Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign.

Stryd, officially Athlete Architect LLC, has been working on the technology for three years, enlisting elite athletes in the Boulder area in the testing process, but Tuesday marked the first availability of the device to the general public. Stryd officially will launch the device onto the market toward the end of summer or early fall.

Stryd’s Kickstarter campaign eclipsed its goal of $50,000 in about four hours Tuesday and kept climbing,…

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