Rocky: reducing the chance of concussions from 90% to less than 1%
Henry Edwards, a Masters student from the Faculty of Engineering and IT, found his pathway to innovation through the perfect balance of creativity and intellectual challenge in engineering. His startup, Rocky, addresses a pressing issue in combat sports — Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).
“I’m trying to lower the inherent risks of TBI in sports like MMA and Boxing,” Henry explains.
As an amateur boxer himself, Henry encountered the problem firsthand. In striking sports, athletes will hit a plateau when sparring becomes essential for progress. This is because the risks associated with an accidental hit in sparring are so high. Existing protective gear, ironically, often exacerbates the danger, meaning that Henry (who had a history of concussions) was faced with the decision of discontinuing the sport he loved or damaging his brain.
Of course, for Henry, neither option was good enough.
Enter Rocky, a helmet that reduces the chance of a concussion from 90% to less than 1%. By utilising an outer skin, the helmet absorbs rotational acceleration — a force caused by a strike to the side of the head that twists the brain inside the skull and is a primary cause of brain injuries. The Rocky helmet design prevents these dangerous rotational forces from affecting the skull. This innovation offers a significant safety advantage for amateur athletes, allowing them to train intensively without compromising their long-term cognitive health.
Already seeing the release of an initial Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Henry has been gathering insights that will feed into the development of a second iteration. While feeling incredibly rewarded by the journey so far, Henry does not hide the notion that there were many challenges to overcome to get to the point he is at now.
“It’s kind of like hiking up a mountain or doing a marathon. In the moment it’s incredibly challenging and takes all your willpower to keep putting one foot in front of the other, but then you get the joy of reaching the summit and seeing how far you’ve come,” he expressed.
For the last three months, Henry has been a part of the MAP Velocity pre-accelerator program, a space that offered the support and community he needed.
“Velocity has been great! It’s just so nice to come hang out with some cool people on a Thursday night and talk about stuff we are passionate about,” shared Henry.
As Rocky continues to evolve, the team is on the lookout for experts in manufacturing, logistics and mechanical engineering to join the team. Henry’s message is clear: “If you have experience in these areas, please get in touch!”
Henry will be pitching Rocky at the upcoming Ignite: Future Founders Festival on Wednesday 24 July at Melbourne Connect. Register for free here.
