CHIP’d reaches a major commercial milestone as its smart golf ball technology moves from development into the hands of golfers.
CHIP’d has officially entered the commercial market.
The CHIP’d Golf mobile apps are now live on both iOS and Android, and orders from the company’s Early Adopter launch have shipped to customers.
Together, the milestones mark the culmination of years of research, engineering, product development and manufacturing required to bring CHIP’d Golf from an idea to a complete connected sports technology platform.
“This is an incredibly significant moment for CHIP’d,” said Josh Marris, co-founder and CEO of CHIP’d. “Developing the technology and proving that we could capture meaningful data from inside a golf ball was one challenge. Turning that technology into a product that could be manufactured at scale, connected to a complete software ecosystem and ultimately shipped to customers was another challenge entirely. Seeing CHIP’d Golf in our customers’ hands makes all of that work very real.”
Data From Inside the Golf Ball
CHIP’d Golf is a smart putting ball system powered by IntelliCore™, CHIP’d’s patented embedded sensing technology.
Unlike putting technologies that rely on external cameras, radar systems, instrumented mats or sensors attached to equipment, CHIP’d captures motion data directly from inside the golf ball.
The system measures key characteristics of every putt, including initial speed, initial spin, skid distance, true roll, putt length and outcome, with data transmitted wirelessly to the CHIP’d Golf mobile app.
Golfers can use CHIP’d on indoor putting surfaces, practice greens and other suitable putting environments without changing the way they normally practice.
The CHIP’d Golf App Is Now Live
With the CHIP’d Golf apps now available for compatible iOS and Android devices, golfers can connect directly to their CHIP’d smart golf balls and turn every putting session into measurable performance data.
The initial release includes the Launch Monitor mode which allows players to record putting sessions, review individual putts and performance metrics, and track tendencies over time. Future updates will introduce drills and challenges, allowing golfers to participate in training activities designed around measurable improvement.
The launch of the mobile apps completes the first commercial CHIP’d ecosystem: intelligent equipment, wireless communication, mobile software, cloud infrastructure and performance analytics working together as one connected platform.
From Early Adopters to Commercial Launch
CHIP’d opened its Early Adopter program before entering full production, giving a limited group of customers an opportunity to become some of the first golfers to own and use the technology.
Those customers supported CHIP’d while the company completed the transition from working prototypes to production hardware, finalized its mobile applications and established the manufacturing and quality-control processes required for a product containing electronics embedded permanently inside a golf ball.
With Early Adopter fulfillment complete, CHIP’d is now preparing its next production release.
“Those first customers believed in what we were building before they could hold the finished product in their hands,” Marris said. “We’re incredibly grateful for that support. They will always be an important part of the CHIP’d story.”
Golf Is the Beginning
While CHIP’d Golf is the company's first commercial product, the technology at its center was designed with a much broader vision.
IntelliCore™ is an embedded technology platform developed to capture data directly from inside sports equipment and connect that equipment to software, analytics and other devices.
Golf represents the first commercial application of that platform and one of its most demanding engineering challenges: integrating electronics into a ball while maintaining the size, weight, balance and performance characteristics expected by the athlete.
The same core technology is being developed for applications beyond golf as CHIP’d continues its mission to connect equipment, data and athletes across sports.
“CHIP’d Golf is important to us for much more than the launch of one product,” Marris said. “It is the first commercial validation of the platform we have spent years building. We believe there is an enormous opportunity when the equipment itself becomes capable of capturing and communicating data.”
The Next Chapter
With its first commercial products now in customers’ hands, CHIP’d is moving into its next stage of growth.
Production of the next CHIP’d Golf release is underway as the company continues development of the software platform, training experiences and future applications of IntelliCore technology.
For CHIP’d, the milestone represents something simple but significant.
The technology is no longer just being developed.
It is being used.
