You only have to look at what’s been trending lately to see the surge in demand for well-being / fitness products and services. During lockdown we definitely had our eye on our fitness as we advised biometric coaching company, Performance Lab Technologies® (PLT) on their strategic alliance with US-based tech company, PEAR Sports®.

PLT has been developing monitoring technology and using biometric data to coach and analyse the performance of tens of thousands of athletes for over 30 years. Andrew Nicoll and the HGM team have been working with PLT’s founders, Jon Ackland, Kerri McMaster and CEO, Waynne Dartnall, for the last eight years.

PLT’s AI-driven coaching platform ARDA is pushing boundaries in the wearable tech market. Knowing where you are in your training and comparing your performance history is undoubtedly a game changer for coaching. ARDA intuitively gives timely and relevant coaching advice.

PEAR Sports® is a market leader in real-time and interactive audio coaching technology. Businesses can build and deliver state of the art personalised digital fitness and wellness programs using the platform. Focusing on the complete user experience, users can connect via mobile or wearable tech, be guided by a coach and listen to music whilst they train, using PEAR’s proprietary offering.  

Bringing PLT in as part of the PEAR Sports group is viewed by both parties as a significant strategic alliance and a major development for the next generation science-based digital market. As Bob Allison, founder of PEAR Sports, said. “Adding Performance Lab’s science and AI algorithms to PEAR’s real-time coaching technology means PEAR will be able to offer the only truly intelligent, custom adaptive-training solution on the market”. The PLT team will continue to operate as the Science and Innovation Hub and remain in New Zealand and with PEAR offices in San Diego.

For PLT's Waynne Dartnall (CEO) and Peter Hay (CFO/COO), this significant deal took place during an incredibly testing time for many, given we were all in lockdown. To quote a Kiwi great, Sir Edmund Hillary, Peter remarked, "Despite all the challenges, we knocked the bugger off!”.

We look forward to seeing how PLT and PEAR develop from here (and hopefully our fitness levels will also benefit!).  

Well done to everyone involved.