Startup Spotlight: Reaction Technologies
Reaction Technologies, founded in 2020, is a client of Lawrence Technological Universityâ€TMs Centrepolis Accelerator in Southfield, which serves emerging manufacturing startups.
It was founded when co-founder Brandon Martin saw a 13-year-old football player become paralyzed from a dangerous head-down hit. The incident, Martin says, gave him an idea for a new piece of football practice equipment â€" an idea that is now a business.
The product is an accessory that wraps around a tackling dummy. It displays a number on a large LCD screen. Players hitting the practice dummy are required to tell a coach what the number was that they saw. If they approach the dummy with an improper, dangerous head-down technique, they wonâ€TMt be able to see the number and tell the coach what it was â€" and the coach will take the player aside to teach proper, safe tackling technique.
"Coaches are trying to find ways to minimize those head-down hits," Martin says. "I think our product can really make a difference."
The product was tested at practices leading up to the Michigan High School Football Coaches Associationâ€TMs All-Star Game, played in June at Lawrence Tech. And itâ€TMs being further tested with high school and youth teams this fall. LTUâ€TMs speed and conditioning coach also is working with Reaction Technologies to fine-tune the product.
Martin said he started working with the startup accelerator Ann Arbor Spark on the product, and officials there directed him toward Centrepolis in Southfield â€" one of the few business accelerators in the country thatâ€TMs geared toward physical products, not software or apps.
Martin says he hopes to have the Reaction Technologies product hit the market in early 2025 at a price of $379.
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