A company called Hyperice set a goal of raising $100,000 to fund the production of a sports fitness product focused on helping athletes extend their careers. It took to Kickstarter to campaign for the money and has successfully met its goal of achieving a $100,000 raise. The kicker is that there remains twenty-nine days left on the Kickstarter campaign. Hyperice has destroyed its own expectations.
The product is named The VYPER, which is the second item to be released by Hyperice. It is has been described by founder Anthony Katz as a portable multi-purpose fitness device that uses the combination of pressure and vibration to loosen up muscles and increase circulation.
"We believe this could be one of the biggest recovery, performance and movement enhancement products in sports," said Jim Huether, Executive Vice President of Marketing & Business Development at Hyperice to FORBES. "We still have twenty-nine days remaining in the campaign, so it has been a huge success."
Hyperice's existing relationships with noteworthy athletes undoubtedly helped spread awareness of the Kickstarter campaign and will continue to provide marketing and promotional benefits for the company moving forward with the creation of The VYPER. Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin and Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson were the first two athletes to experiment with the product that is under development. Griffin and Peterson, along with
"This is the first established company to use four superstar athletes to help bring an innovative and meaningful product to life on Kickstarter," said Huether. He added that LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Clay Matthews have also been testing out The Vyper. "This is atypical, but Kickstarter has evolved and this is an excellent marketing vehicle for us along with means to fund production, and to gauge price sensitivity. We have offered excellent incentives and access to our backers as early adaptors and anticipate they will be great brand evangelists."
Hyperice is a small, young company created in 2010 with the focus on providing new recovery products to athletes. Its Ice Compression Technology was used by Peterson to rehabilitate an ACL injury after his MVP season and Peterson joined the Hyperice team soon thereafter.
"Unlike traditional endorsements, our athletes are not paid; they are actually shareholders in our company (some are investors), and thus they are taking a risk in this venture as well," added Huether. "The athletes joined our team because they believed in the vision and mission, as we are trying to become the "
Hyperice is currently in the middle of a $2 million capital raise and has informed FORBES that it is roughly half way through its stated goal. If such a raise mirrors that of its Kickstarter campaign, then the company should be able to procure those funds well in advance its internal deadline.
Darren Heitner is a lawyer and the Founder of South Florida-based HEITNER LEGAL, P.L.L.C., which has a focus on Sports Law and Entertainment Law.
