Canadian firm Plantiga, an AI-powered sensor insole and software platform used by athletes and teams, has closed a $1.2m funding round.

The platform powers over 60 elite organisations throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Oceania, as well as a growing roster of individual athletes. Customers include teams in the NBA, NFL, MLB, MLS and NHL, high-end sport medicine and sport physiotherapy clinics, and the US and Canadian militaries.

The sensor insoles and suite of software enable any group or person to measure and analyse human movement. On top of the sensors and software, the company provides detailed movement analysis, recommendations and insights to users on the platform.

The company says they are on a mission to unlock the power of human movement. By optimising how a human moves, it helps people become more resilient and perform at their best in sport and in life. The goal is to reduce injury while increasing performance.

The funding will help accelerate marketing and sales efforts while supporting the build-out of the self-monitoring capabilities. This enables any individual to track themselves wherever and whenever, while sharing those data with whomever they choose – team, trainer, coach, doctor and so on. This approach will power Plantiga’s B2B relationships, while laying the groundwork to go after the rapidly growing personalised health-tracking market.

“Our goal is to positively impact millions of people by focusing on optimising both their movement health and performance,” said Quin Sandler, CEO of Plantiga. “We know very little of how people move, and especially in the real world, but the way someone moves tells us so much. We can optimise our movement patterns. We can increase mobility, range of motion, speed and more. We can push the boundaries of what’s currently possible.”

The company has just launched a closed beta programme for individuals. Programme members get the Plantiga insoles and software platform and their own movement coach who provides data analysis and personalised recommendations.

“From our work in pro sport, we understand how hard it is to measure an athlete when they’re competing on the court, running on the trail, wherever,” said Sandler. “That’s where we come in. That’s what we do for teams, and that’s what we want to do for individual athletes.”

The round was led by Harlo Equity Partners with participation from Globalive Capital Partners, Rian Gauvreau and a large group of professional athlete investors from the Athlete Tech Group ecosystem that includes Thaddeus Young (Chicago Bulls), Patrick Patterson (LA Clippers) and Will Fuller (Miami Dolphins).

“Harlo is excited to partner with Plantiga,” said Justin Shulman, general partner of Harlo Equity Partners. “As individuals and athletes continue to take health and performance into their own hands, there exists a huge opportunity for new remote digital health technology tools. We believe Plantiga’s proprietary technology and their growing library of high-fidelity human movement data set them apart as the industry attempts to become more connected and introduce the next generation of product offerings. We look forward to supporting Quin and his team with their continued expansion.”

Harlo Equity Partners is a Toronto-based private equity and venture capital investment platform focussed on seed, early stage and growth equity investments.

Plantiga allows individuals and organisations to measure, analyse and optimise movement health. Its platform combines sensor insoles, AI and human coaching to drive resilience, recovery and performance. The company is based in Vancouver and works with athletes, practitioners, teams and militaries from around the world.