STRAFFR
Aesop, that clever storyteller from yesteryear, is believed to have been among the first to conceive of what would evolve into the Latin phrase mater atrium necessitas.
Aesop wrote of a crow dying of thirst who came upon a pitcher with a little water in it. A problem immediately presented itself: The pitcher was high and had narrow neck. The crow tried everything, but he couldn’t reach the water.
Then a lightbulb went off. The crow picked up small pebbles and dropped them into the pitcher. With each pebble, the water rose a little higher until finally it was near enough so he could drink.
In a pinch, a good use of our wits may help us out.
In other words, the mother of invention is necessity.
Fast-forward more than 2,000 years. Stefan Weiss, a native of Germany now living in Amsterdam, was a former volleyball player, still a young man, and fit. Until he took an internship at a hotel, he was a gym rat. However, then he got a job — that internship.
A problem immediately presented itself.
STRAFFR
“I couldn’t find a way to keep myself fit,” Weiss, 33, says. “I tried a lot of things: app, running, bodyweight training, gadgets. I turned to resistance bands: super portable and light weight, and you can do a lot of exercises with them that you know from a gym — rowing, butterfly reverse, butterfly, banded push-ups, squats, etc.
“But you don’t see your progress — you never know how much load you are actually moving, and every day the weight feels different.”
The idea of STRAFFR was born.
STRAFFR is the world’s first smart resistance band, the company says. A sensor in the band tracks power and range of motion of every move. The band then sends the data through an app to provide live feedback.
“It’s just like having a personal trainer standing right next to you,” Weiss says.
Weiss was a member in the inaugural Techstars Fort Worth accelerator program for entrepreneurs in physical health.
The program is designed for companies that have a focus in physical health, health sciences, rehabilitation, physical therapy, osteopathic care and musculoskeletal conditions, mobility, performance, sports, exercise, medicine, software, hardware, digital health, wearables, and innovations in human movement.
“The experience [at Techstars] has been great,” Weiss says. “During the program we learned a lot on how to improve our company and streamline processes. We got connected to mentors who helped us with refining our business model, connecting us to the first retail chains, refining our pitch, and many more things that helped us to accelerate our company.
“Even after the program, a lot of mentors are still supporting us with their network and time. We are currently raising another round of funding to enter the U.S. market, and we get a lot of support from the Techstars network.”
The cost of the band is $100. Weiss says the company has done more than $360,000 in sales since launching in Germany in 2021. The company recently got into the Dubai Duty Free store, he says.