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Galway’s Orreco signs up with MLS Innovation Lab
Galway’s Orreco signs up with MLS Innovation Lab

Galway-based athletic bio-analytics company Orreco is to participate in the third edition of Major League Soccer (MLS)’s Innovation Lab, the North American professional football league’s initiative striving to advance the next generation of sports technology.

Orreco uses AI, computer vision and biomarker data to optimise athlete performance, predict injury risk and accelerate recovery, and is “trusted by elite teams and athletes across major leagues worldwide”, according to the company.

The programme cites key areas of focus in attempting to evolve technology around football as fan engagement, media technology and on-field development. MLS said it has chosen five AI-focused companies for the lab to “deploy solutions designed to address real challenges across the soccer ecosystem, creating a direct pathway from innovation to implementation”.

“It’s a privilege to be chosen for this year’s MLS Innovation Lab cohort and to play a role in advancing both MLS and the global game,” said Dr Brian Moore, co-founder and CEO of Orreco.

The company said its team includes 20 PhDs and that the team has published more than 400 peer-reviewed scientific papers. It works with elite athletes “to optimise performance, accelerate recovery and extend playing careers” in sports such as football, basketball, ice hockey, American football, golf and motor racing.

The company said it was selected for the initiative – which will allow the participants to test and scale their technologies in real-world MLS game environments – “following a rigorous evaluation process which vetted hundreds of companies from around the world”.

The other participants chosen for the upcoming cohort are Springbok Analytics, which uses AI to transform scan data into detailed 3D muscle analytics; Fit:Match, a player identification and assessment platform that uses mobile devices, AI and computer vision to capture detailed body data; Advanced Image Robotics, which aims to make broadcast-grade sports video production more accessible using AI-powered robotic camera systems; and WMT AI Ticketing, which claims to optimise pricing and distribution in real time by analysing fan behaviour, demand and market dynamics.

Chris Schlosser, MLS senior vice-president of emerging ventures, said: “With each new cohort, MLS Innovation Lab continues to surface technologies that have the potential to meaningfully impact how the game is played, experienced and consumed.

“This group represents a strong mix of real-world AI technologies that can have immediate impact across athlete performance, television production and fan-focused innovation.”

Orreco was founded in 2010 by sports scientist Moore and haematologist Dr Andrew Hodgson. The company utilises applied physiology, biostatistics and cognitive computing to better inform coaches, medical teams and athletes with actionable insights that help improve performance.

In January, the company acquired British Olympian Jessica Ennis-Hill’s ‘Jennis’ women’s health and performance platform. At the end of 2025, Orreco raised $4m in a funding round that included participation from Enterprise Ireland and television personality and billionaire investor Mark Cuban, as well as athletes and existing investors.

Tim Barnwell
This article originally appeared on www.siliconrepublic.com and can be found here
 

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