Sport & Active Lifestyle Technologies
While technology, biotech, and life science companies are synonymous with San Diego, a variety of lifestyle companies also call San Diego home. From Active.com to GoPro and Reef, we’re lucky to share our city with several sports and active lifestyle brands – and sometimes we forget how much of an impact these businesses have on our local economy and culture.
The three finalists in the category for the Most Innovative New Product Awards are continuing to expand the sports and active lifestyle technology fields in San Diego. Today, we’re spotlighting a few groundbreaking new products: 100%’s FORECAST, Hush’s Smart Earplugs, and Hookit Score.
100% for FORECAST:
100% proudly introduces the FORECAST, a revolutionary new film system offering the largest field of clear vision in motocross. The FORECAST is a complete system of working parts that function seamlessly together, resulting in the smoothest operating film system available today.
We sat down with Co-Founder and CEO Ludo Boinnard, who shared his insights on San Diego’s innovation economy.
CONNECT: What’s your biggest achievement to date?
Ludo Boinnard: Finishing the Dakar Rally in 2010 ! 🙂
CONNECT: What’s the biggest obstacle or challenge you’ve overcome?
Boinnard: Maintaining balance between business and family.
CONNECT: What’s the best thing about having your business in San Diego?
Boinnard: Being on the coast, the west coast, right on the ocean with amazing weather. Living in a big city, but not too big of a city. There is still a great sense of community and belonging for all who are looking for it. We have the basis we need to create a sweet meaningful life for us and all those involved.
CONNECT: What’s your favorite go to-app right now?
Boinnard: Uber for sure!
CONNECT: In your opinion, what’s been the best innovation in the last 25 years?
Boinnard: The iPhone and its whole set of derivative businesses which have allowed the common folks to be empowered with information and autonomy while on the go.
CONNECT: What’s your favorite business blog or book?
Boinnard: The Economist magazine
CONNECT: What does being a finalist in the Most Innovative New Product Awards mean to you?
Boinnard: 100% is composed of passionate people. In our field of action sports we’re constantly recognized and praised already, but for our team and innovative processes to be seen outside in the “real world” is something that will boost their sense of self-worth and belonging.
Hush for Hush Smart Earplugs
Hush creates the world’s first smart earplugs. Combining a sound machine, earplugs, and smartphone connectivity, Hush allows you to drown out noises that keep you up at night, while simultaneously allowing you to hear the alerts and notifications you need.
Co-Founder and CEO Daniel Lee spoke to CONNECT about his achievements and challenges as an entrepreneur.
CONNECT: What’s your biggest achievement to date?
Daniel Lee: On first thought, I thought our $600,000 Kickstarter campaign was probably our biggest achievement, but after thinking about it a little more, our biggest achievement has to be what we’ve done in our product development. Constantly molding the product over the past year into what it is now has not been an easy feat and to get it to where it is now has to be what we’re most proud of.
CONNECT: What’s the biggest obstacle or challenge you’ve overcome?
Lee: The biggest challenge we’ve overcome is creating a product that people can sleep with. Fitting all that we have into our tiny miniature wireless form factor while maintaining our battery life has not been easy, but it was an essential obstacle that we had to overcome in creating an in-ear device for sleep.
CONNECT: What’s the best thing about having your business in San Diego?
Lee: Being in an emerging startup market like San Diego has been incredible – there’s a wealth of experience and the best part is that experience is very willing to offer their time and resources to help budding entrepreneurs. Just look at programs like EvoNexus that we’ve been lucky to be a part of to see what I’m talking about.
CONNECT: What’s your favorite go to-app right now?
Lee: The convenience of Venmo is pretty hard to beat
CONNECT: In your opinion, what’s been the best innovation in the last 25 years?
Lee: The modern day smartphone.
CONNECT: What does being a finalist in the Most Innovative New Product Awards mean to you?
Lee: Being called “the most innovative new product” is an incredible achievement and to be in the running for that title is quite exciting. It’s definitely a prestigious award here in San Diego, so we’re honored to be being considered for it!
Hookit for Hookit Score
Hookit is the first-ever verified scoring engine that helps any level of athlete measure their commitment, performance and reach in their sport …every day. Think of it as a credit score for athletes and a way for brands to identify their value.
Hookit offers the most powerful platform to quantify and track the value and performance of sponsorships.
Hookit was started by Scott Tilton and RJ Kraus, former athletes who originally founded SponsorHouse in 2001 out of a motorhome. The original mission was simple – connect athletes with sponsors through the ‘Internet’. A revolutionary concept at the time, the vision has evolved into a platform for athletes to track their progression, build their personal brand and earn recognition and deals. The Hookit Index and Hookit Score are ground-breaking, proprietary innovations that will forever change the way athletes impact the $300B global sports economy. Today, more than 150 business partners use Hookit to support, manage and maximize the value and influence of athletes.
Want to meet our Finalists in the Sport & Active Lifestyle Technologies category? Then join us, and San Diego’s innovation elite, on December 1 at the Most Innovative New Product Awards. For more information on the event and to buy a table or tickets, visit the event page. See you there!