French Open tennis star Elina Svitolina and the chief executive of the ATP Tour, Eno Polo, are among the investors in a new French performance start-up, TIVA. The company has successfully secured £450,000 in a pre-seed funding round, with the aim of developing innovative products designed to offer marginal gains to tennis players.
TIVA's initial focus will be on creating products that enhance the skin contact between a player's hands and their tennis racket grips. This area of equipment design is crucial for control, feel, and preventing issues such as blisters or discomfort during high-intensity play. The investment from prominent figures within the tennis world, such as Svitolina, a former world No. 3 and Grand Slam semi-finalist, and Polo, who leads the men's professional tennis tour, lends significant credibility to the venture.
The concept of 'marginal gains' has gained widespread recognition in sports, particularly after its successful application in British cycling. It involves making numerous small improvements across various aspects of performance, which collectively lead to significant overall enhancements. TIVA appears to be adopting a similar philosophy, pinpointing a specific, often overlooked, area of equipment to optimise.
For professional tennis players, even a slight improvement in grip comfort or stability can translate into better shot execution, reduced fatigue, and a psychological edge. The involvement of an active player like Svitolina suggests that the products will be developed with real-world player needs and experiences at their core, while Polo's participation highlights the potential for broader adoption within the professional circuit.
The capital raised in this pre-seed round will be vital for TIVA to develop its research and development capabilities, bring its first series of products to market, and potentially expand its range to other areas of tennis performance enhancement. The intersection of sport, technology, and entrepreneurship continues to attract significant investment, as athletes and administrators look for competitive advantages.