After the recent news of the Teamworks acquisition of Kairos, we sat down with Kairos Founders Andrew Trimble and Gareth Quinn to hear about their entrepreneurial journey. What a ride, thanks for sharing, and welcome to the team Andrew and Gareth!

The 5K Park Run That Started It All

In the brisk morning air of Belfast, Northern Ireland, a spontaneous conversation at a 5K Park Run between two charity board members, Andrew Trimble and Gareth Quinn, set in motion a journey in sports tech that would empower professional athletes around the globe.

Andrew, a seasoned rugby union player focused on improving his sports performance, posed a question to Gareth: “How can we create something that helps me and my team? How do we streamline things for the athlete, allowing them to focus on what matters performance? How do we make life easier for them?”

Gareth, a sports-mad tech entrepreneur, responded with a thought-provoking inquiry: “Is this something that’s more widespread than just your experience? How can we create something that helps all teams?” This shift in perspective marked the beginning of their business: Kairos.

The Luck of the Irish

As Andrew and Gareth set about building a tech product that could empower professional athletes with technology, Kairos took shape, attracting top talent and creating a dynamic, high-performing team fueled by passion and commitment. Gareth emphasized the rich talent pool in Northern Ireland, nurtured by a world-class academic system and driven by demand from US companies, setting the stage for innovation.

The small yet agile Kairos team moved quickly, committed to their professional football and rugby partners success. They worked with early adopters as Beta partners to test and learn, implementing insights gained from customer conversations and building out features specifically for their needs. Then they learned, tweaked, and built some more. Constantly innovating. Constantly keeping Teamworks in their line of sight.

Kairos Joins Teamworks

As both Kairos and Teamworks started gaining traction with professional sports teams across the UK, it was easy to deem them competitors on the outside. But according to Andrew, they were both working to add more value to the market, albeit on different teams.

Until January 17, when Teamworks acquired Kairos, creating a unified and enhanced experience that now incorporates the best of Kairos into the Teamworks Hub product – a move Andrew deems a win-win for the market:

Partners are poised to receive superior solutions with integrated innovations.

A Win-Win for Partners & Athletes

With twenty new Kairos employees joining Teamworks and a focus on product innovation specifically for the professional sports market, Gareth is most excited to see the full potential of his team unleashed, saying:

For Gareth and Andrew, the chance to help shape the future professional sports innovations of Teamworks and contribute to the collective vision of enhancing athletes’ peak performance is a shared enthusiasm. Andrew, fueled by his passion for impacting players, draws from his distinguished 10-year career in rugby union. His excitement lies in the ongoing development of cutting-edge solutions like Mobile Front Door.  As Gareth aptly puts it:

Without one singular solution (like Mobile Front Door) you’re just creating a little bit more chaos in a world where chaos is what is what you’re trying to remove.

-Gareth Quinn, Kairos Founder & COO

The integration of best-in-class tools within the Teamworks Operating System enhances the athlete experience – and offers partners streamlined solutions to better support their players. Gareth, using a Premier Team example, highlights those benefits:

The Future is Bright

Simplifying the complex is what we do here at Teamworks. Adding Kairos to the equation only serves to expedite more world-class solutions for elite sports organizations around the world. Were thrilled to have the Kairos team on board, and we echo Andrews sentiment may the next five years be even more exciting!

Interested in learning more about the Teamworks Operating System for Sports?^TM Get in touch.