2020 Armor Announces Funding for a total of $1.2M
Oct 2018 TORONTO — 20/20 Armor, the company transforming martial arts into a mainstream professional sport, announced the closing of yet another successful investment round by the Adidas family through LeAD Sports.
20/20 Armor’s total funding has now reached $1.2 million.
In the most recent investment round for the Canadian company 40 percent of funding came from LeAD and 60 percent from customers.
Ali Ghafour, founder and CEO of 20/20 Armor, said the investment by LeAD gave the company the right springboard to shape the future of martial arts.
“The fans are excited and engaged about the 20/20 Armor technology and martial arts,” he said.
The market was reacting very positively with repeat orders, he added.
“We have been able to deliver on our promise to generate more revenue for martial arts club owners and at the same time change the sport globally to make it more spectator friendly,” he said.
Ralph Riecke of LeAD investment said he was thrilled about LeAD’s investment in 20/20 Armor and listed the reasons.
“The team has a deep background in martial arts, previous startup successes, a big vision and the market to support it,” he said. “And connected athletes in martial arts open up many possibilities.”
Riecke said the company will become a leader in fan engagement and training enhancements because of 20/20 Armor’s IoT devices and mobile apps with new data points and gaming options, which are unavailable today.
“This is why we were one of the first investors and decided to double down in a follow up round,” he added.
About leAD
LeAD, legacy of Adi Dassler, the legendary founder of Adidas, is a global powerhouse for sports tech entrepreneurship and investments. For startups with outstanding ideas leAD’s team of entrepreneurs, experts and international top investors – all with a deep passion for, and strong foothold in, sports – paves the way to the best playing fields in the business.
About 2020 Armor
20/20 Armor is a Canadian sports technology company that develops martial arts scoring equipment and software. The company’s flagship product tracks impacts through a vest that shows the score on the vest itself using scoring systems similar to those in popular video games.
20/20 Armor’s customers include some of North America’s largest martial arts clubs as well as Olympic coaches in the U.S., Canada and around the world. The founders are former professional martial arts practitioners. Investors include other martial arts professionals and families of major sports brands.
20/20 Armor’s vision is:
- To be the standard of impact measurement for all martial arts.
- To become the official scoring system of the Olympics.
- To transform martial arts into a spectator friendly professional sport.
Ali Ghafour, founder and CEO of 2020 Armor, left, shakes hands with Horst Bente, grandson of Adi Dassler, the founder of Adidas, at the announcement of the investment in Berlin, Germany.
