Mark Cuban backs AI sports firm Orreco in $4 million raise to predict athlete injuries

Mark Cuban backs Galway sports-tech Orreco in $4m raise

Orreco has also acquired Data Driven Sports Analytics, a Melbourne-based AI analytics service for athletes. Galway-based agentic AI sports company Orreco has announced the closing of a $4m funding round with participation from Enterprise Ireland, television personality and billionaire investor Mark Cuban, as well as sports athletes and existing investors. Early backer Enterprise Ireland invested $1m as part of the round. Existing investors include True Ventures, Jason Calacanis, 20VC, professional golfers and major champions Padraig Harrington. The new investment supports 55 new jobs at the company globally, including 30 in Galway over the next two years, commented Keith Brock, head of Enterprise Ireland's sports-tech portfolio. "This investment directly reflects our strategic focus on supporting ambitious companies to scale globally. It also highlights the strength of Ireland's sports tech cluster, with Ireland ranking 1st in Europe for sports tech VC investment on a per capita basis," he added. Orreco was founded in 2010 by sports scientist Dr Brian Moore and haematologist Dr Andrew Hodgson. The company utilises applied physiology, biostatistics and cognitive computing to better inform coaches, medical teams and athletes about actionable insights that help improve performance. Alongside the investment, Orreco has acquired Data Driven Sports Analytics (DDSA), a Melbourne-based AI analytics service for athletes. The 2016-founded Australian company, which has been working in the sports sector for five years, counts some of the world's top athletes among its clientele. "DDSA has been a huge part of how I analyse opponents, develop my game and make better decisions on court. Now teaming up with Orreco brings two leaders together with one vision, helping athletes be ready to win. It's an exciting step forward for high-performance tennis," said Aryna Sabalenka, world number one in tennis and four-time Grand Slam champion. The new funding and strategic acquisition will help to accelerate Orreco's next generation AI-powered motion signal, a method of analysing movement behaviour using computer vision and machine learning, the company said. This would enable Orreco to identity potential injuries ahead of time based on changes in an athletes' motion, it added. The technology, developed by a team of PhD's, has proven successful with official data sets from NBA and other professional sports in the US. A new initiative with Major League Soccer is scheduled soon. "This is the first proactive approach to use AI to help reduce injury risk. It's great today and only going to get better," said Mark Cuban, tech investor and co-owner of the Dallas Mavericks US basketball team. Earlier this year, Galway-based businessperson and investor Gene Browne joined the Orreco's board. The appointment came after Browne's company Bolgheri made a €1.5m investment into the sports-tech company. "Mark's investment is a powerful endorsement of the science and technology we've been building. His backing, along with the continued support of Enterprise Ireland, participation in Comcast NBCUniversal SportsTech's 2025 program - combined with the computer vision expertise of the DDSA team - puts us in the strongest position we've ever been in to scale AI-powered performance intelligence globally," said Moore the company's CEO. In 2023, Orreco won The Irish Times Innovation of the Year award. In 2021, the company secured €3m in an investment led by True Ventures. Early this year, another Irish sports-tech Output Sports, which offers its services to the English premier league, NFL, MLB, Women's NBA and the PGA Tour, bagged $4.8m in a pre-A funding round. Don't miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic's digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.

Mark Cuban Just Gave This AI Sports Firm a Major Boost

A pioneer in applied physiology, biostatistics, and cognitive computing, Orreco provides coaches, medical teams, and athletes with "knowledge and actionable insights to maximize availability and sustain peak performance," according to its website. It uses AI to analyze client data and provide recommendations on how to train most efficiently. As part of the Comcast NBCUniversal Sports Tech accelerator, Orreco supports professional athletic teams, including the NBA, WNBA, Premier League, and NHL. Series A Funding Along with Mark Cuban, professional athletes, Enterprise Ireland, and prior investors took part in the $4 million series A extension. Existing investors include True Ventures, entrepreneur and investor Jason Calacanis, and 20VC professional golfers like Padraig Harrington, among others.