Model Health, a software startup with roots in Brussels and Salt Lake City, has landed $1 million in pre-seed funding to bring lab-grade movement analysis out of research labs and into the hands of physical therapists and athletic trainers worldwide.
The round, unaccompanied by a formal valuation, was led by sports-focused Apex Capital, with participation from Syndicate One, LeanSquare, imec.istart, and several strategic angels, including high-profile physical therapists, tech founders, and a European footballer.
Founded in late 2024 by Stanford researchers Antoine Falisse (CEO), Scott Uhlrich (CSO), and former McKinsey director Nicolas Bellemans (CPO/COO), Model Health aims to provide every practitioner with access to objective, clinically relevant movement analysis via any smartphone.
Antoine Falisse, co-founder and CEO of Model Health, said, “Every athlete and patient deserves world-class movement analysis, and every practitioner should have affordable, lab-grade tools that fit seamlessly into their workflow. With smartphones only, we can now unlock insights that once required €100,000+ equipment, making high-performance movement analysis truly scalable.
Model Health’s platform leverages AI and biomechanics to convert routine smartphone videos into actionable motion metrics. The product, already live in a dozen sports clinics and used by global brands like Decathlon, addresses a glaring market need. Nearly 39% of adults suffer from musculoskeletal disorders in any three months, according to Falisse. Elite athletes face injury rates between 10% and 43% at any given time, with a sevenfold likelihood of re-injury post-knee ligament trauma.
Falisse told TFN: “We identified that movement professionals often rely on expertise and patient or athlete feedback rather than objective data. Model Health was founded to address this gap by developing solutions that standardise the capture of comprehensive movement data and translate it into clinically relevant metrics, empowering professionals to make evidence-based decisions and enhance the physical health of their patients and athletes.”
The fresh capital will accelerate product development, enabling Model Health to scale its engineering team, ramp up commercial adoption, and, as Falisse puts it, “prepare for the next big leap in making movement analysis accessible everywhere.” The current operational team consists of three members, with key new hires in the process of being onboarded.
Model Health’s approach stands apart from competitors by leveraging smartphone technology, rigorous validation, and real-time feedback, making motion capture fast, affordable, and scalable, with no specialised equipment required.
The startup plans to onboard clinics, scale internationally, and push the boundaries of objective movement intelligence across sports and healthcare.
