Billionaire investor Mark Cuban and several current NBA stars have backed a $4m (£3m) fundraising round for Irish sports tech company Orreco.
They join major-winning golfers Padraig Harrington and Graeme McDowell as investors in Orreco, which uses AI to analyse athletes’ movement for signs of injury susceptibility.
“This is the first proactive approach to use AI to help reduce injury risk,” said Cuban, a co-owner of the Dallas Mavericks NBA team who made his billions as a tech founder and appears on US TV show Shark Tank. “It’s great today and only going to get better.”
“Mark’s investment is a powerful endorsement of the science and technology we’ve been building,” said Orreco co-founder and CEO Dr Brian Moore.
Orreco counts nine Premier League teams and the Lionesses among its clients, and is set to start a new project with Major League Soccer in 2026.
Its motion signal technology can help to prevent non-contact injuries to knee ligaments, hamstrings and Achilles tendons by recognising changes in athletes’ usual movement.
Orreco acquires Sabalenka partner company
Alongside the series A extension, Orreco has acquired Australian company Data Driven Sports Analytics, which works with women’s tennis world No1 Aryna Sabalenka.
“DDSA has been a huge part of how I analyse opponents, develop my game, and make better decisions on court,” said Sabalenka. “Now teaming up with Orreco brings two leaders together with one vision, helping athletes be ready to win.”
Government agency Enterprise Ireland contributed $1m of the $4m raise, which will see Orreco create 30 jobs in Galway in the next two years.
It joins existing investors Harrington, McDowell, NBA agent Todd Ramasar, NHL agent and Olympic medallist Allain Roy, and Comcast NBCUniversal.
Ireland has emerged as a hub for sports tech companies, with 93 venture capital-backed firms, placing it first in Europe on a per-capita basis.