Wearable tech company Myovolt seals “7-figure” global licensing deal

It was two years ago that Kiwi wearable tech company Myovolt first met representatives from US sports medicine giant United Sports Brand at a trade fair in Europe.

Electronic and wearable tech experts Steve Leftly and Dr Dianne Jones, who co-founded Myovolt in 2015, have developed vibration technology worn as a sports pad strapped to a part of the body. It helps muscle recovery or relieves chronic pain and follows more than 10 years of research with many independent, published and peer-reviewed clinical studies. 

It has been a hit with kiwi sports stars and is currently used by the Hurricanes Super Rugby Team, NZ Cricket, and as the preferred device for members of the New Zealand Olympic rowing team. Previous incarnations of the technology were used on NASA spacesuits and the ‘hot pants’ of the 2021 Olympic cycling team that caused a media storm. 

After years of battling to get cut-through in the local retail market, Myovolt is now poised for growth after sealing a non-exclusive deal with one of the world’s biggest sports retailers. Co-branded products will be sold in thousands of stores across the US from early next year, including the likes of Dick’s Sporting Goods, Academy and Big 5. United Sports Brand also distributes into Europe and plans to eventually also bring the products to Australia and New Zealand, says Leftly, who is Myovolt’s CEO.

He can’t put an exact figure on the licensing deal as Myovolt will get a share of product sales but he says “it should be seven figures for us going forward from next year”.

It’s the first time that a sports recovery technology has been picked up by the US company and president and CEO Michael Magerman says he’s proud to be bringing effective, hands-free muscle recovery to the masses after it has proven to have worked with elite athletes globally.

When United Sports Brand first approached Leftly in Europe it decided it was then too early to put what is a more expensive item for its product range into the US market.

Since then, other sports wearable tech companies have broken the ground for that price point, of around US$150 for each product, he says, and the “timing was now right”.

The company has signed up a new Hong Kong manufacturer that will be able to produce at the required scale, while still maintaining the high quality necessary for a medical device. 

Leftly says the US deal will also open doors with other distributors.

“The first decade of Myovolt’s journey has been a steady, systematic process of refining our product and building a strong clinical evidence base for the medical market. Overnight, the United Sports Brand partnership has changed our horizon and helped us stock our products in places that would never pick up our call a year ago.”

From sports to medicine

The patented medical devices, which have FDA approval, use focal vibration technology. It is clinically proven to reduce tension and stiffness in muscles, tendons and associated joints. The product vibrates at a specific frequency range, of between 30 to 80 times a second, which has been found to have specific health benefits, including aiding in opening up blood vessels and stimulating nerves.

Next year, Myovolt is launching an intelligent lower back pain platform for at-home use based on its technology that will provide data back to the wearer on their recovery. The aim is to reduce key metrics such as recovery time, time off work and medication. Early pilot studies have already been conducted with New Zealand construction workers and long-haul pilots.

Myovolt co-founder Dr Dianne Jones says the USB partnership resulted from the tireless effort to prove the technology among doctors, physiotherapists and other professional clinicians. 

Over the years it has worked with a plethora of researchers globally from medical and sports universities and research clinics, who want to develop clinically validated rehabilitation treatments that can be delivered more conveniently and regularly in the home. That includes wearable treatments for things like MSK (musculoskeletal conditions), stroke and peripheral neuropathy. 

Leftly says he’s currently in talks with medical device distributors around selling those products globally, and thinks in New Zealand they will be well received by the Accident Compensation Corporation, which pays out multi millions of dollars in claims for lower back pain sufferers annually.

The main shareholders in Myovolt are Hong Kong-based businessman Jeff Faiola, Leftly and Jones. They bootstrapped the business for many years until getting $400,000 in a pre-seed round from Angel Investors Marlborough in 2020.

Leftly completed an accelerator programme last year with Expert Dojo, which bills itself as the fastest-growing accelerator in Southern California, and it has taken a small stake in the business as part of a further $500,000 seed round with it and other investors this month. 

The fundraising environment for a hardware company has been “really tough”, he says, with the company unable to attract any venture capital backing to date, although it hopes the US deal may turn that around when it seeks to raise another round next year.

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