Berlin is buzzing: Innovative protection against sports injuries
Berlin, 27 February 2024 – Ankle injuries usually force athletes to take long breaks and require a great deal of discipline. This is because they are often only able to resume their training and competition routines after a long rehabilitation period. In some cases, such injuries even lead to the end of a career. A fate that also befell Vinzenz Bichler. But the founder of Betterguards Technology GmbH didn’t just sit back and accept his bad luck with injuries, rather, as part of his degree thesis at the Technische Universität (TU) Berlin in 2014, he developed the idea of special adapters that protect human joints like a kind of safety belt and can be integrated into numerous applications.
One of these is “The BetterGuard” – an innovative ankle support that offers users protection without restricting their natural freedom of movement, as its protective function is only activated when high-risk rotational movements occur. The ankle support is a certified medical product and is already being used both nationally and internationally. The company works with the National Basketball Association in the USA and runs a small office in New York City under the supervision of an American CEO who was hired in 2023. But the players of the German national basketball team and handball players such as Nils Lichtlein from Füchse Berlin also benefit from the innovative technology, in which more and more professional clubs, for example from football, volleyball, tennis and handball, are also showing interest.
In addition to B2C, Betterguards Technology GmbH also pursues a B2B business model and strives for collaborations with textile or sporting goods manufacturers. Of particular interest to the textile market are the small, tubular muscle supports, also known as adaptors, which can be integrated into socks, stockings, trousers, gloves, shoes or compression garments.
Betterguards Technology GmbH was spun off from the TU Berlin in 2014. A process that was actively supported by Berlin Partner. For example, the Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf Business Service supported Vinzenz Bichler and his colleagues in their search for networks and co-operations as well as in technology and innovation management. In addition, Betterguards Technology GmbH made use of Berlin Partner’s talent service and funding and financing support and also benefited from the constructive cooperation in the search for funding programs and locations. The company has since relocated its headquarters from the Charlottenburg Innovation Centre to Eiswerder in Spandau. Vinzenz Bichler’s idea has become a successful company with 20 employees working in Germany and five in the USA. A development that does not go unnoticed. Betterguards Technology was named the winner of the Lightweight Innovation Award in the “lightHEALTHCARE” category in 2023. A motivating confirmation – both for the company itself and for Berlin Partner’s Business Service, which not only follows the development and growth of Betterguards Technology GmbH with great interest, but also accompanies it with great commitment.