GHENT, Belgium – Sept. 16, 2025 - OnTracx, a Ghent University spin-off, has secured €1.2 million ($1.4M) in seed funding to develop technology that helps runners and health professionals better understand the body’s response to running. Rather than claiming to eliminate injuries, OnTracx focuses on creating tools to make hidden biomechanical load visible – with a unique emphasis on cumulative load, an area many experts have long identified as key to better outcomes.
The funding round included imec.istart fund, PMV, KBC, and a group of business angels combining sports medicine expertise with entrepreneurial experience from Belgium and the Netherlands, complemented by a VLAIO innovation grant. The capital will further refine OnTracx’s wearable sensor and digital platform, expand commercialization, and prepare for market entry in Europe and the U.S.
The lightweight sensor, worn on the lower leg, measures biomechanical load on tendons, muscles, and joints – focusing on lower extremity overuse injuries, among the most common challenges runners face. It can support screening, but the team emphasizes that understanding cumulative load over time is essential to making better training and rehab decisions. By bridging the needs of runners, therapists, and coaches – each with different priorities – OnTracx is working to fill a long-standing gap between care, training, and performance. Scaling this approach requires strong ecosystem support, which this investment helps accelerate.
OnTracx captures biomechanical load during everyday running and training, providing a clear, focused view of load and capacity without oversimplifying the complexity of human movement. This approach supports both safer ongoing training and more informed return-to-run after injury. What makes OnTracx distinctive is its ability to combine objective data with runner-reported input, such as symptoms, creating practical insights for physiotherapists, coaches, and other professionals while respecting their expertise.
“Distance, pace, or running analysis data are useful, but they’re only part of the story,” said Senne Bonnaerens, CEO and Co-Founder. “Our goal is to give athletes and caregivers a clearer understanding of loading patterns so they can make informed choices. Most runners just want to keep running – whether for health, performance, or enjoyment – and understanding hidden loads is an important step toward that.”
Since launching in April 2024, OnTracx has sold over 500 sensors and partnered with 20 sports medical centers in Belgium. Its academic roots at UGent have gained international recognition, including Under Armour and Deloitte’s “10 Fastest Rising Tech Startups” 2024 list. The company is exploring additional collaborations with wearables, apps, and platforms – with integrations already available and more planned – to bring cumulative load insights into broader ecosystems.
Investor and orthopedic surgeon Dr. François Hardeman added: “It’s inspiring to see how academic research can reach practice through entrepreneurship. With OnTracx, scientific knowledge is translated into a practical product that can make a real impact for thousands of runners and their caregivers. That is the power of innovation in healthcare.”
With 110 million runners worldwide and many struggling with overload injuries, OnTracx is taking steady steps to help runners and professionals work together toward safer, more sustainable training. With the industry moving toward load-based insights, OnTracx is helping shape this transition – creating opportunities for runners, professionals, and partners to be part of what’s next in training and rehab.
About OnTracx
OnTracx, a Ghent University spin-off founded in 2023, combines award-winning research with wearable technology and intelligent load management to support running rehabilitation, injury prevention, and performance training for athletes, clinicians, and millions of runners worldwide. More at www.ontracx.com
Contact
Senne Bonnaerens, CEO
📧 senne@ontracx.com
🌍 www.ontracx.com
More information can be found here.
