Our portfolio company Supersapiens contributed to the success of Dutch pro team Jumbo Visma at this year’s Tour de France: The Dane Jonas Vingegaard was the fastest athlete on the “Grande Boucle”, winning the yellow jersey. His Belgian teammate Wout van Aert won the green jersey with outstanding performances not only in bunch sprints but also in the mountains.
Jumbo Visma has renewed the collaboration with Supersapiens right before the Tour. The Atlanta based company develops sophisticated gadgets for glucose monitoring. Asker Jeukendrup, head of nutrition at Team Jumbo-Visma says that he can advise athletes very accurately thanks to the Supersapiens technology. Whereas Jumbo Visma athletes can use the technology for training and nutrition purposes, the world cycling federation (UCI) still bans it for in-competition. It is worth noting though that IOC and WADA (the World Anti-Doping Association) have both approved Supersapiens.
Supersapiens uses the Abbott Libre Sense to stream glucose data in real time via Bluetooth. This allows pro athletes but also average users to get powerful insights. Glucose data can be used to get faster and stronger, to have more energy or to lose weight. The small biosensor is applied on the back of the upper arm.
Supersapiens was founded back in 2019 and is part of our Swiss Diabetes Venture Fund. The company has set the ambitious goal to become the most influential sports brand of this decade.
Vingegaard managed to take the yellow jersey from his rival Tadej Pogacar during an Alpine stage. Photo: Jumbo Visma
