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
DEVELOPING Man sets self on fire outside New York court where Trump trial underway
A man set himself on fire on Friday outside the New York courthouse where Donald Trump's historic hush-money trial was taking place as jury selection wrapped up, but officials said he did not appear to have been targeting Trump.
BREAKING Sask. father found guilty of withholding daughter to prevent her from getting COVID-19 vaccine
Michael Gordon Jackson, a Saskatchewan man accused of abducting his daughter to prevent her from getting a COVID-19 vaccine, has been found guilty for contravention of a custody order.
She set out to find a husband in a year. Then she matched with a guy on a dating app on the other side of the world
Scottish comedian Samantha Hannah was working on a comedy show about finding a husband when Toby Hunter came into her life. What happened next surprised them both.
Mandisa, Grammy award-winning 'American Idol' alum, dead at 47
Soulful gospel artist Mandisa, a Grammy-winning singer who got her start as a contestant on 'American Idol' in 2006, has died, according to a statement on her verified social media. She was 47.
'It could be catastrophic': Woman says natural supplement contained hidden painkiller drug
A Manitoba woman thought she found a miracle natural supplement, but said a hidden ingredient wreaked havoc on her health.
Young people 'tortured' if stolen vehicle operations fail, Montreal police tell MPs
One day after a Montreal police officer fired gunshots at a suspect in a stolen vehicle, senior officers were telling parliamentarians that organized crime groups are recruiting people as young as 15 in the city to steal cars so that they can be shipped overseas.
The Body Shop Canada explores sale as demand outpaces inventory: court filing
The Body Shop Canada is exploring a sale as it struggles to get its hands on enough inventory to keep up with "robust" sales after announcing it would file for creditor protection and close 33 stores.
Vicious attack on a dog ends with charges for northern Ont. suspect
Police in Sault Ste. Marie charged a 22-year-old man with animal cruelty following an attack on a dog Thursday morning.
On federal budget, Macklem says 'fiscal track has not changed significantly'
Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem says Canada's fiscal position has 'not changed significantly' following the release of the federal government's budget.