Contact: Pat Pemberton

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New business launches as NFL experiences hundreds of head injuries each season

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — While concussions continue to garner publicity amidst the NFL playoffs, a former Cal Poly football player is working to develop a device that will detect sports-related brain injuries within minutes.

Connor Heffler’s startup, ODIN Diagnostics, recently won a $15,000 award at Cal Poly’s Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (CIE). The startup originated when Heffler’s senior project team began investigating various problems in the health space, leading them to common problems related to concussions.

“We talked to everyone, from athletes to optometrists, and came back to the idea of concussions,” said Heffler, who graduated last June with an economics degree and a concentration in entrepreneurship. “We kept hearing, ‘concussions, concussions, concussions.’”

These brain injuries caused by a blow to the head or violent shaking of the head or body have been a growing conversation in several sports — particularly in relation to the NFL. Some recent players who had highly publicized concussions this season include quarterbacks Tua Tagovailoa of the Miami Dolphins, Jacksonville Jaguars star Trevor Lawrence and Jalen Hurts of the Philadelphia Eagles, all in their mid-20s.

In the 2023 season, according to the NFL, there were 219 concussions, which was six more than the 2022 season but fewer than 2017’s 281 among preseason and the 17-game regular season.

ODIN Diagnostics was founded with stats like that in mind. Last spring, ODIN won the top prize in the CIE’s Innovation Quest, and ODIN participated in the CIE’s Summer Accelerator program, an intensive 12-week program that provides Cal Poly students and recent graduates with the resources to turn their innovative ideas into full-fledged startups. Heffler is now working to commercialize ODIN’s product with the help of the CIE’s Incubator program, a two-year program that offered $10,000 in seed funding and more to further support to build their startup into a business.

Besides Heffler, the current team includes engineering students Joshua Gottschalk, Seth Saxena and Marina Zellers.

“It’s probably one of the best experiences I had at Cal Poly,” Heffler said, “because you get to meet people and work with people that you don’t have the chance to in your economics classes.”

For Heffler, football and economics have impacted one another by helping him succeed in both areas.

“Football is a grind,” he said. “You’re waking up at 5 a.m. The sun’s not even out, and then you’re out hitting heads on the field and putting your body on the line. It’s hard — and doing that consistently daily makes you tough. Now that I’m in the working world after graduating, everything feels easier.”

One educator who helped expose him to the sports business industry was Economics Associate Professor Joseph Kuehn, who has performed extensive research on the NBA. Heffler’s drive and ambition stood out to Kuehn.

“He always sat in the front of class, asked questions, and was always engaged with the material,” Kuehn said. “He was one of the more conscientious students I’ve had.”\

Managing everything while at Cal Poly, from being a Division I football player to owning a business, was not easy — but Heffler perseveres.

“I am fully committed to getting ODIN Diagnostics off the ground over the next years,” Heffler said. “It is something I am passionate about, and I will not stop until we have developed a more meaningful solution to solve problems in the concussion space.”

Top photo: Connor Heffler discusses his startup during the annual Demo Day at the Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship.

Photo by Ruby Wallau for Cal Poly CIE