athlete-data
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Ryzer Turned Camp Paperwork Into Recruiting Data - A Playbook for Founders in Boring Markets
The Iowa company began with envelopes, checks and harried coaches. Nineteen years later, its event network became the missing front door for a college-recruiting platform.
Bill Near
Bill Near is the founder and CEO of HELIOS, a Portsmouth, New Hampshire sports-technology company that turns hockey development into something you can actually measure. An MIT engineer who captained the school's hockey team, Near pairs an AI-powered sensor that clips to a player's shoulder pads with automated shift video so any skater - youth to pro - can see real numbers on stride speed, acceleration and effort. He built the company in 2018 alongside Hall of Famer Ron Francis, and in October 2025 raised a $2.2M seed round from a syndicate of active NHL executives and players to scale it.