Brace (www.bracesocial.com/), a young Irish technology startup, is on a mission to reframe the injury recovery experience through social connection, community support and user empowerment. 

The NovaUCD-headquartered company has announced the launch of a new and free social rehabilitation platform which enables users to take control of their injury recovery journey, while supporting others and facilitating an understanding of the lived experience during rehabilitation.

The platform, which is at the beta stage of development, supports users in managing the physical and mental aspects of the injury recovery process through digital exercise tracking and progress management, peer insights into injury rehabilitation, and community support and motivation.

Mental toll

Brace was developed following a serious sporting injury sustained by company founder Conor Motyer, during which he experienced first-hand the mental toll involved in the injury recovery and rehabilitation process. With academic research on rehabilitation pointing to widespread issues of anxiety, loss of motivation and social disconnect, Brace is seeking to apply the successful trend towards social fitness to the injury recovery process.

“We are extremely excited to launch our Beta product and continue to develop on the concept that social connection can support people through the injury recovery process, leading to improved clinical outcomes, as well as a more positive experience”, said Brace founder and CEO, Conor Motyer.

He added, “Injury rehabilitation requires discipline, motivation and dedication to maintain adherence to your exercise plan between physiotherapist visits, however this can be an isolated and frustrating experience, leading to low exercise engagement rates. Alongside the ongoing growth of social and connected fitness, we believe that there is huge potential for an injury recovery platform that values the importance of social connection.

Greater understanding

“Our goal is to help a community of injured people support each other to come back stronger, while helping develop a greater understanding of the lived experience and behaviour during recovery.”

Brace, which was established earlier this year, is currently exploring and evaluating several pre-seed funding options to support team expansion plans, growth of the Brace user base and further strategic development of the company’s product roadmap.

The beta version of the Brace app is available for free download on both the Apple App Store (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/brace-social/id1582299189) and Google Play Store  (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bracesocial.app&gl=IE).