For generations, those in the sporting world have used instinct, hunches, and gut feeling to identify talent, but that could all change if the new scouting technology created by Dublin-based startup, Profile 90, catches on.
The company is using science and Big Data analysis to create a talent identification platform that co-founder, psychiatrist Dr. Jag Basra, says will revolutionise how talent is identified and measured. “It is the first scouting technology to combine a multi-focus on physical attributes, mental fitness and the social behaviour of players,” she says.
The platform is not sport-specific, howeve, the company’s initial focus is on UK and US soccer, and rugby and cricket to follow. So far Profile 90 has gone live with UK clubs, Burnley and Peterborough United while another 11 clubs across the UK, Europe, the US, and India have signed up for paid trials.
Basra says football academy success rates are very low at 3-5 percent and this hasn’t changed much in 20 years. On the other hand, football transfer fees have increased 40-fold since the 1990s. “Profile 90 will improve success rates for academies, ultimately reducing the cost of first-team player acquisitions and generating revenue from the sale of better academy talent,” she says. “When talents like Neymar (a Brazilian player) go for record-breaking numbers in excess of €200m, identifying youth talent better becomes increasingly more important as this is what adds monetary value to a club.”
Profile 90 was set up in October 2016 and employs seven with more jobs on the way. The team behind the company includes Basra who has experience of working with UEFA, the IFA and Premier League clubs on mental health, skills and resilience and co-founder, Trevor Keane, who established sports-related startup, Sportego, in 2015.
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