With the signing of the Toronto Blue Jays as a client, Travis McDonough’s decision to build Kinduct Technologies in Halifax has received further validation.
The major league baseball team joins other high-profile users of the Kinduct software.
These include the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers, and three world champion teams.
It’s all good news for Kinduct as it attempts to put distance between itself and competitors.
McDonough, Kinduct’s founder and CEO, said he resolved to keep the company in Halifax when he set up in 2009.
“We’ve had opportunities to move to Los Angeles or New York, but we want to contribute to the economic development of this region,” McDonough said as he sat in the company’s busy Bayers Road offices.
“It was tough at first, having to meet payroll with insufficient revenues. But that hardens your resolve, as an individual and a company.”
Kinduct’s technology platform allows a two-way information exchange, and has both sporting and health and wellness applications.
In sports, the system can collect information from an athlete, including training, sleep schedules, maximum acceleration, deceleration and heart rate.
“The data allows the user to understand how to keep the machine — the athlete — working optimally,” McDonough said.
The data also allows the development of algorithms that predict performance and injury.
In health care, the platform’s applications include monitoring a patient’s blood-sugar levels and relaying the information to his doctor.
A native Haligonian, McDonough became an entrepreneur in 1998 after moving to Ennis in County Clare, Ireland, courtesy of the passport obtained via his father, Halifax lawyer Peter McDonough.
In Ireland, McDonough’s achievements included playing tennis for Ireland’s national team.
He ran a chain of 14 health clinics and developed a group of fitness centres.
“I found I had an entrepreneurial fire in me I didn’t know was there,” McDonough said. “It started when I landed in Ireland.”
He also created Kinduct’s forerunner, 3DRX Developments. He began compiling a library of medical animations, which he describes as the largest in the world, to explain health procedures to patients.
“I wanted to encourage individuals to take responsibility for their health care. They needed to understand their injuries and adhere to treatment plans,” he said.
McDonough had become interested in healing after suffering a neck injury while boxing.
“I was knocked out live on CBC, in the national finals,” he said. “I thought the injury would end my sports career. I was devastated — sport is who I am.
“But therapist Brian Seaman came up with a non-surgical solution and got me back on my feet.”
Ten years after arriving in Ireland, McDonough returned home with his Nova Scotian wife Margaret Taylor and their three children.
“I’d learned a lot about business,” McDonough said. “But … I didn’t delegate properly. I couldn’t find the right people and I didn’t have the right leadership skills.”
He had learned the importance of team.
“Without the right team, it’s hard to have a sustainable business. When we moved home, we began Kinduct in my brother’s back room. Our team fell into place.”
Kinduct now has 35 employees and they all have a stake in the company.
McDonough, whose accolades include being named a top regional CEO and a CBC Innovator, still plays competitive tennis.
Last year, he played for Ireland in the world championships. He plays doubles with his colleague Phil Anderson — they are aiming for their sixth provincial title. He also mentors other athletes.
Growing up, he learned from his mother, former federal NDP leader Alexa McDonough.
“Mom taught me to think big. I watched her in her early days as a politician speaking in a church gym to maybe five people, to then trying to run for PM.”
McDonough is proud that all Kinduct’s investment has come from Nova Scotia, but 98 per cent of Kinduct business originates elsewhere.
“We’re just taking our first step,” he said. “We’ve been focused on research and development. Now we must stress growth.”
