Penticton company, XCO Tech Inc., will receive $800,000 in federal funding to commercialize their technology platforms that deliver sport performance training and a comprehensive concussion assessment.
“This technology will enhance the performance and safety of athletes in professional and amateur sports as well as aid in treatment and rehabilitation of concussed individuals,” said a news release from the Western Economic Division of Canada. “This platform also enables the fusion of motion tracking data with biometric and cognitive digital biomarkers to better measure human performance and health in future applications.”
The announcement came Tuesday afternoon at the Penticton campus of Okanagan College that the local company will get support through the Western Innovation initiative to grow their business and create good jobs. Honourable Harjit Singh Sajjan, Minister of National Defence, made the announcement on behalf of Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Developement and minister responsible for Western Economic Diversification Canada.
“The Government of Canada is working hard to help western Canadian entrepreneurs turn their ideas into thriving businesses and create good middle class jobs. Through the Innovation and Skills Plan and funding programs such as the Western Innovation initiative, we are helping to propel innovative entrepreneurs and businesses into global success,” said Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Developement and minister responsible for Western Economic Diversification Canada.
Sajjan noted the tech being produced by XCO Tech Inc. will have further implications outside of sports, including in the Canadian military.
“What this allows us to do, and I am particularly interested in the military applications, is look at how we can prevent injuries. With this research, of course we want to focus on rehabilitation, but we have a specific emphasis on how we train our people and build that resilience and do that properly so we can prevent the injury,” said Sajjan. “And if we do have these injuries, what’s the best way to rehabilitate them as well. What type of equipment might we need, all of these things are very important.”
Councillor Judy Sentes was in attendance and said this project interests her particularly because of her family’s involvement in hockey, a sport that frequently sees players getting concussed.
“To have the Minister and make his presentation of $800,000 to a world class company in the City of Penticton - a lot of people don’t know how much talent we have here, and the more we get it out there, the better it will be,” said Mayor John Vassilaki. “The City of Penticton will look at this very carefully and I’ll be bringing it forward to city council and we’ll take it from their to come up with solutions that we can improve on what we already have.”
“This announcement is about the tremendous talent that you have here in Penticton, and that’s extremely exciting because we have innovation all across Canada and this is just another demonstration of that,” said Sajjan.
XCO Tech Inc. is a young, growing company that seeks to advance precise medicine and provide new insights into health and performance for athletes and others suffering from potentially life-changing injuries.
Scott McMillan, CEO of XCO Tech Inc., said it was not hard to convince his team to set up shop in Penticton, as opposed to cities like Toronto or Vancouver that have larger tech industries but higher costs of living.
“We just believe Penticton is a great place to be to have an active and healthy lifestyle.
So far, we’ve been able to draw people from Toronto and Vancouver to live here and work in a company like this,” said McMillan. “The nice thing about technology too, is you can also have a lot of remote workers distributing the work force, but we’re focused on growing the core of our company here, creating jobs here in Penticton.”
McMillan said they have not announced when their first products will be available, but they will be priced to be accessible for athletes of all ages and sports, not just professionals.
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