NFL awards a Montreal start-up $550,000 to work on its design for a safer football helmet
Despite having no expertise in football helmets only two years ago, a Montreal start-up, KOLLIDE, has just scored big, winning a $550,000 grant from the National Football League (NFL) to advance its design of a new helmet they hope will ultimately help reduce the risk of concussions during games.
“Yes, it’s super exciting. We're proud of this collaborative entrepreneurship spirit that we have in Quebec,” said KOLLIDE research coordinator Franck Le Navéaux, who said the award is even more gratifying because they were up against other companies that had manufacturing experience.
Add to that, the challenge of working on their designs and contributions independently and meeting only virtually for 10 months straight during a pandemic.
As well as having the tenacity to form a 12-member start-up company from four smaller start-ups -- coming together at the last minute just to form KOLLIDE -- and there is much for them to savour about this first success.
All the submissions to the NHL were judged by a panel that included former NFL players and experts in the engineering, biomechanics, neurology, and sports business.
Along with KOLLIDE which began its project in 2019, two American businesses -- one based in Denver, Colorado, the other in Detroit, Michigan -- were also selected to receive funding after competing in the $3 million NFL Helmet Challenge.
“They are our competitors but we are all sharing the same goal and it's great to see that this challenge, broad innovation will be translated on the field,” Le Naveaux said.
The competing novel helmets were judged on their ability to reduce the severity of impacts, among other criteria.
The Canadian Football league (CFL) told CTV News in a statement it was aware of the initiative and supports the development of new helmets and equipment.
“If approved by the various regulatory bodies for use in football, the league would look into making them available to our players,” wrote Lucas Barrett, director of communications and public affairs for the CFL.
The KOLLIDE prototype features a helmet liner that is made of 3D printed pads that look like foam, but have an “architecture,” a particular structure, explained Le Naveaux, who has a background in the medical device industry.
The liner would be custom fitted to a player’s head with the 3D printed pads woven together into “a net,” to theoretically allow the wearer to sustain “18 different impacts in different directions,” he said.
The idea is that the flexible liner would absorb the energy of the impact, instead of the football player’s skull, “limiting both the linear and rotational accelerations transmitted to the head,” according to a statement from the start-up.
The KOLLIDE team member said since their design isn’t officially approved for use they can’t yet vouch for its effectiveness when it comes to reducing the number of head injuries sustained by players during pro football games.
However, he said their prototype “outperformed the current helmets on the market,” based on laboratory testing the NHL and its partners carry out annually to assess and rank helmets on the market.
That performance success was also enjoyed by other competitors.
“NFL Helmet Challenge submissions achieved up to a 13 per cent improvement above the top-performing helmet currently worn in the NFL,” the league said in a statement issued on Monday.
It appears that may bode well for the future of concussion prevention improvements in the NFL as the league also said this improvement rate is “more than four times what is typically seen annually in new helmet designs.”
With their funding coffers replenished, the KOLLIDE team wants to push its proof of concept even further to put their Montreal start-up on the map, but also to try and help other types of athletes.
“I'm a former boxer, so I can speak about the competition issues,” said Le Naveaux.
“Really what we have demonstrated with our technology in helmets,” he said, is that they can also apply their ideas to other sports that require an advanced level of protection against traumatic brain injury.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
B.C. tenants evicted for landlord's use after refusing large rent increase to take over neighbouring suite
Ashley Dickey and her mother rented part of the same Coquitlam duplex in three different decades under three different landlords.
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment which has been banned at Queen’s Park.
Mountain guide dies after falling into a crevasse in Banff National Park
A man who fell into a crevasse while leading a backcountry ski group deep in the Canadian Rockies has died.
Body of Quebec man who died in Cuba found in Russia, family confirms
A Montreal-area family confirmed to CTV News that the body of their loved one who died while on vacation in Cuba is being repatriated to Canada after it was mistakenly sent to Russia.
Expert warns of food consumption habits amid rising prices
A new survey by Dalhousie University's Agri-Food Analytics Lab asked Canadians about their food consumption habits amid rising prices.
Saskatchewan isn't remitting the carbon tax on home heating. Why isn't my province following suit?
After Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the federal government would still send Canada Carbon Rebate cheques to Saskatchewan residents, despite Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe's decision to stop collecting the carbon tax on natural gas or home heating, questions were raised about whether other provinces would follow suit. CTV News reached out across the country and here's what we found out.
Montreal actress calls Weinstein ruling 'discouraging' but not surprising
A Montreal actress, who has previously detailed incidents she had with disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, says a New York Court of Appeals decision overturning his 2020 rape conviction is 'discouraging' but not surprising.
RCMP officers had no legal authority to enter man's home, make arrest: B.C. court
A B.C. man has been found not guilty of assaulting two RCMP officers – with the court finding he was resisting an "unlawful entry and arrest" in his home before he was tasered, taken down and hauled away in handcuffs.
'Deep ignorance': Calls for Manitoba trustee to resign sparked after comments about Indigenous people and reconciliation
A rural Manitoba school trustee is facing calls to resign over comments he made about Indigenous people and residential schools earlier this week.