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Demcon delves into sports performance data with Johan Sports acquisition

Collin Arocho
Reading time: 2 minutes

Demcon is taking a step into the sports data domain. The systems design expert recently worked together with Johan Sports to develop the Johan V5 GPS tracking sensor, which collects real-time sports data such as location and heart rate. Now, after the successful collaboration, Demcon has moved to make the relationship permanent and has acquired its Hoofddorp-based partner, which will be housed in its Delft location in the near future, with the V5 sensor expected to hit the market by spring 2021.

Johan’s previous V4 sensor captured player locations and activity data, which were collected after the game and used to analyze performance. The updated V5 sensor, which connects via Bluetooth 5 and has a 400-meter reach, reads out the data live and allows teams to monitor and make adjustments on the field to improve performance in real time. The tracking and communication technology has already been successfully tested during the matches of football clubs like FC Volendam and FC Twente and proven its ability to stand up to the potential interference caused by large numbers of fans with smartphones.

“Demcon has a great deal of knowledge about the required technology. We felt there were opportunities for combining their technical knowhow with our knowledge of the market, human movement sciences and the information needs of sports coaches. Even though in the current corona period we were primarily located at a distance from each other, the partnership felt right,” says Johan Sports CEO Ralph van Baasbank. “We have since started working under the Demcon banner with five employees and in the near future, we’ll move to their location in Delft. Having development, production and sales under a single roof is a good thing; it makes for shorter lines and that in turn increases the chances of success.”

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