Innovation on the golf course
TrackMan was created among a group of friends who were very excited to play golf, and they asked themselves one question. How can technology make your games more fun and efficient?
Based on golf, TrackMan was founded in 2003 by Klaus and Morten Eldrup-Jørgensen as well as Fredrik Tuxen and Carsten Hallas. The company provides sports radars for golf and baseball, and moving into other sports. They have experienced economic growth that few Danish companies have achieved. TrackMan has developed into a high-tech Danish adventure that is conquering the world. Going back to 2015, 106 people worked in TrackMan, their turnover was 210 million DKK and pre-tax profits were 81 million DKK. Since 2015, the company has achieved an average growth of 37%. It currently employs 370 people and has a turnover of around DKK 600 million, with sales in over 60 countries worldwide.
TrackMan does, what no one has ever done before
At the center of TrackMan’s technology is a radar system that can, among other things, measure how a golf club head moves and how the club head is oriented in that 1/2000 of a second where the club head hits the ball in a golf stroke. No person can see that with video equipment or with the naked eye. That knowledge can be used to adjust golf strokes – and it can be used for TV transmissions, where it delivers statistics about your golf game, that you see on a screen.
The founders came up with the idea for the technology when in 2002 they wondered why golf had not changed much on the training field in the past century. The players were still hitting buckets of balls and trying to correct the errors from their own conclusions rather than hard facts, even though every other part of the game the balls, the equipment and the courses, had all evolved strongly over time.
Initially, the company consisted of only a handful of employees who tried to create a product in the director’s private garage and backyard. Their salary came from Klaus Eldrup-Jørgensen’s previous job as chief executive of the biotech company Nordic Biosciences and managing director of Dako and Novo Nordisk. Today, the system is used in both golf and baseball – but is also being tested in American football, and systems for tennis, cricket and rugby are being developed. The data generated by TrackMan’s system has never been available before and the company is characterized by high levels of innovation. The product that TrackMan markets today is very different from the original product: “What we’re doing, no one has done before us. We say that if it is not against the laws of physics, then we will try it”, says Klaus Eldrup-Jørgensen.
Winner of the Nordsjællands Erhvervspris 2019
The high growth and success of the company has also been noted and rewarded. Last year, TrackMan won “Nordsjællands Erhvervspris 2019” contending against 20 others North Zealand companies. The prize is awarded by Nordea, Erhvervscenter Sjælland Nord and Frederiksborg Amts Avis, and it is given to the company that has improved employment, has implemented a significant business or market development has increased earnings and profitability – or has contributed significantly to new business activities in the local area. TrackMan was presented with a sculpture created by the artist Louise Lagoni, a sculpture designed as a golf ball.
Experienced a big boom during corona shutdown
TrackMan experienced a big sales boom during the Corona shutdown back in the spring. It was clear that it was not fun for golfers to be isolated in their houses or apartments when they would rather be outside on the golf course. However, many golfers still found a solution, when much of the world was still shut down, namely the golf simulator from the company TrackMan. Sales figures boomed during that period, says Director Klaus Eldrup-Jørgensen.
“There are many people who have used our indoor golf simulator since the corona outbreak, and in general things are going well for the sport of golf both in Denmark and in the rest of the world. It’s probably because people have had more time, and that makes it go well for us.” he says.
We are moving on…
TrackMan has achieved growth over the years without adding foreign capital and they have never paid for an advertisement. They have been “lucky” to find customers who were willing to pay for the product and thus grew the company, as well as the revenue. TrackMan has been very good at getting pro-golfers use their product, they even got Tiger Woods as a customer as early as 2006, and the marketing side of the company has primarily consisted of articles featuring the world’s best golfers who have been using the system.
Through the years, many people have expressed a desire to buy the successful Danish company, but it is not for sale. In fact, TrackMan plans to expand and move to DTU Science Park in Hørsholm. Here, the company will build a 12,000 m2 new and CO2-neutral domicile, which among other things will house a large test hall. TrackMan aims/wants to remain a Danish company that we can all be proud of.
“We have to move on. in order to advance with our growth journey. Before the end of the year we will start the construction of our new head office, which will be located in DTU Science Park in Hørsholm. It will be 12,000 square meters and we expect to move in the first quarter of 2022” concludes Klaus Eldrup-Jørgensen.