Betterguards, a maker of advanced ankle braces, has acquired the IP of Nextiles, a smart fabric firm, to advance the understanding of injury prevention. Both firms were graduates of NBA Launchpad’s first cohort in 2022; SBJ Tech named Nextiles one of its Most Innovative companies in 2023.
Nextiles founder George Sun is joining Betterguards as CTO. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Multiple people described Nextiles as having faced challenges commercializing its technology and that the Brooklyn-based startup either had been reassessing its path forward or even winding down its business.
Tony Verutti, the CEO of Betterguards, said his team had been internally exploring similar concepts with its own team of engineers and biomechanists and opted to acquire the Nextiles IP and add Sun to jumpstart those efforts.
“We did realize there’s a gap in understanding injury occurrences and also, even on the other side, maybe just as important as when injuries do not happen or when is there a protection event,” Verutti said. “So we’ve always thought about can we understand that a little bit better.”
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There is not a specific development roadmap for how the Nextiles tech -- which weaves circuitry into fabric to capture motion and forces -- will be integrated into Betterguards’ products.
“It’s going to be a phased approach,” Verutti said. “We want to make sure science is leading here. That’s super important for everything we do, and science development takes more time to validate, to go through all of the different processes and regulatory approvals and things like that.”
Betterguards released the 3.0 version of its ankle brace in 2025 and began a three-year agreement with the National Basketball Athletic Trainers Association, including the formation of an Innovation Committee. Magic Fs Franz and Moe Wagner and Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown are athlete ambassadors. Betterguards is worn by players on two-thirds of NBA teams, as it seeks a balance of being highly protective while also not limiting athletic movement.
Nextiles raised a $5M seed round in 2022 and had co-developed several products, such as a baseball pitching sleeve, socks for basketball players and a force mat that was an alternative to a heavy plate.
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