Based in 2021, this Kildare-based start-up is innovating within the equine trade with AI and analytics.
Stephen O’Dwyer has been a fan of horse racing so long as he can bear in mind. A few of his earliest reminiscences embrace going to meets along with his grandfather when he was simply three or 4 years outdated.
This ardour stayed with him all the best way as much as his educational pursuits at College School Dublin (UCD), the place he studied biomedical engineering. Throughout his undergraduate research, O’Dwyer labored on pose estimation expertise for people and rapidly noticed a possibility to mix this expertise with equine biomechanics.
The result’s our Begin-up of the Week, TrojanTrack.
TrojanTrack is an Irish start-up that makes use of superior AI and pose estimation expertise to detect early indicators of lameness or imbalance in horses by smartphone video recordings.
“Our mission is to supply trainers and house owners with actionable insights to boost horse welfare and optimise efficiency – remodeling how the equine trade cares for its athletes,” O’Dwyer tells SiliconRepublic.com.
And so they’re off
O’Dwyer wasted no time in getting TrojanTrack off the bottom. He based the corporate straight after graduating from UCD in 2021, and in the identical 12 months obtained the Finest Affect on Sport award on the SportX pre-accelerator.
“Since then, I’ve taken TrojanTrack by the New Frontiers programme and the UCD Accelerator programme, laying the groundwork for our bold mission,” O’Dwyer says.
At the moment, the start-up – which is predicated on the Irish Nationwide Stud in Kildare – is focusing on the UK and Irish equine market, specializing in racehorses, showjumpers and sport horses. “With Eire being a world chief within the trade, it’s the proper launchpad for our harm evaluation device,” explains O’Dwyer, including that the corporate has its sights set on additional growth down the road.
“We plan to scale rapidly to key areas just like the USA and Australia, addressing the necessity for superior biomechanical evaluation instruments. The chance lies in changing subjective assessments with exact, data-driven options for harm prevention, welfare enchancment and efficiency optimisation.”
Setting the tempo
O’Dwyer says that TrojanTrack’s final objective is to develop into the “world customary for equine well being and efficiency evaluation”.
“We intention to rework how horses are cared for by offering data-driven instruments that enhance welfare, stop accidents and optimise coaching. Lengthy-term, we envision TrojanTrack being utilized in each secure, coaching yard and equine occasion worldwide, setting new benchmarks for horse welfare and efficiency.”
As for the tech itself, O’Dwyer gave us a run down of the way it works. The beginning-up’s system makes use of 4K video and superior pose estimation expertise to trace 52 key factors on a horse’s physique at 60 frames per second.
“These information factors are analysed to detect delicate asymmetries and patterns in motion that point out lameness or imbalance,” he explains.
The corporate’s harm evaluation app compares a horse’s present motion with its historic information, offering trainers with “clear, actionable metrics” to establish potential points early.
“All information is processed by a safe cloud-based platform, guaranteeing seamless entry for customers,” says O’Dwyer. “Past harm evaluation, we’re growing instruments for bloodstock evaluation, welfare monitoring for regulatory adoption and insurance coverage information analytics – pushing the boundaries of equine expertise.”
A powerful lead
In relation to TrojanTrack’s start-up journey, O’Dwyer describes a few of the challenges that the start-up has confronted, the most important of which has been “balancing innovation with practicality”.
“There’s a tough bounce from college work the place circumstances are best, to the real-world the place a usable product needs to be constructed for all circumstances,” he says. “Constructing an AI-driven product that works seamlessly within the real-world circumstances of a secure or coaching yard – the place connectivity and circumstances can range – has required ingenuity and resilience.
“Fundraising as an early-stage start-up additionally has its hurdles, however the perception in our mission has helped us overcome these challenges and safe assist from unbelievable traders.”
This perception has definitely paid off, as the corporate has seen appreciable success when it comes to funding, together with a pre-seed spherical the place TrojanTrack secured €500,000. The beginning-up’s crew has additionally been rising, with the likes of technical lead Aniket Sawale, chief product officer Allen Corcoran and biomechanical engineer Ellen Curran becoming a member of the ranks, and there are plans to develop even additional.
As O’Dwyer tells us, the start-up is now making ready to launch its preliminary product to its early-stage adopters, and the crew is making ready for its first industrial launch within the UK and Eire.
“We have already got key prospects within the pipeline and are seeing robust curiosity from trainers and welfare organisations,” he says. “Our crew is increasing, and we’re gearing up for a €1m seed spherical to take TrojanTrack to the USA, Australia and past.
“The momentum is robust, and we’re simply getting began.”
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