What Korey Stringer Institute does

The Korey Stringer Institute (KSI) is a research, education, and consulting organization housed within the University of Connecticut's College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources. Founded in April 2010 by Kelci Stringer and exertional heat stroke expert Douglas Casa, Ph.D., ATC, KSI was established to honor the legacy of Minnesota Vikings offensive lineman Korey Stringer, who died from exertional heat stroke in August 2001. The institute conducts research on heat and hydration, injury prevention, and strength and conditioning, and operates the Mission Heat Lab for multi-day heat acclimation studies. Its portfolio spans five programs, including ATLAS (athletic training locations and services), HSPC (Heat Safety & Performance Coalition), innovATe (athletic training services in secondary schools), NCCSIR (National Catastrophic Sport Injury Research), and TUFSS (Team Up for Sports Safety), alongside consulting, athlete testing, an infosheet and template resource library, a Summer Fellowship Program, and a State High School Sports Safety Policies initiative.

KSI's customer base is horizontal across three primary personas: athletes (professional, collegiate, and youth), laborers in physically demanding occupations, and military warfighters. It is openly partnered with the National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA) for national heat safety guidelines and is actively engaged with FIFA on extreme heat protections for soccer players. Its business model is non-commercial in the venture sense: revenue is generated through consulting engagements, research grants and contracts, and charitable donations channeled via the UConn Foundation, supplemented by charity marathon teams (TCS New York City Marathon, BMW Berlin Marathon). There is no public pricing, no VC or PE funding, and no productized software offering. KSI is governed by UConn and does not operate as an independent commercial entity, with a secondary service location at the University of North Florida (KSI at UNF) in Jacksonville.

Name

Korey Stringer Institute

Legal name

Korey Stringer Institute

Website

https://ksi.uconn.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Korey Stringer Institute is a University of Connecticut research institute that delivers research, education, advocacy, and consulting on heat safety, exertional heat stroke prevention, and injury prevention for athletes, laborers, and warfighters.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Sports Safety Research and Consulting

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (611310)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Health Services (8000), Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)

akta.pro primary industry

Safety Training, Preparedness & Drills (Active Threat, Fire, CPR) (EDALAEAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness Education (CPR/First Aid/Disaster Readiness) (EDAAAFAJ), Student Health Services (School Nursing, Health Office) (EDAJAIAE)

Keywords

• Heat safety research
• Exertional heat illness prevention
• Athlete safety consulting
• Sports injury prevention research
• Athletic training services

Headquarters

HQ city

Storrs

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Consulting Services: KSI provides consulting services to organizations seeking expertise in heat safety, injury prevention, and athletic performance optimization.
2. Research Studies: The institute conducts research studies, some of which involve participant recruitment for studies that may be funded through grants and research contracts.
3. Donations and Support: The institute accepts charitable donations through UConn Foundation to support its mission, with charity marathon team fundraising events.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

KSI provides research, education, advocacy, and consultation to maximize performance, optimize safety, and prevent sudden death for athletes, laborers, and warfighters. Deliverables include outreach programs (ATLAS, HSPC, innovATe, NCCSIR, TUFSS), athlete testing, expert consulting, educational resources, and a summer fellowship program offered from the University of Connecticut.

Product overview

The Korey Stringer Institute (KSI) is a research and advocacy organization at the University of Connecticut, not a commercial software product. It offers a portfolio of research programs, outreach initiatives, and consulting services focused on athlete, warfighter, and laborer safety. The core offerings include research initiatives (NCCSIR for catastrophic injury research), prevention programs (ATLAS, innovATe for athletic training in schools), coalition-building (HSPC for heat safety), educational resources (infosheets, templates), testing services (athlete testing), and consulting services. The institute also operates the Summer Fellowship Program for student education.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ATLAS: Athletic Training Locations and Services - outreach program providing athletic training services in secondary schools
• HSPC
• innovATe
• NCCSIR
• TUFSS

Products and services

• Athletic Training Locations and Services (ATLAS) Athletic training outreach program providing athletic training locations and services for athlete care and safety in secondary schools and partner organizations.
• Heat Safety & Performance Coalition (HSPC) A coalition focused on heat safety guidelines and best practices for athletes and workers operating in hot environments.
• AT Services in Secondary Schools (innovATe) An initiative providing athletic training services specifically designed for secondary schools to improve student-athlete safety.
• National Catastrophic Sport Injury Research (NCCSIR) A research program focused on studying and preventing catastrophic sports injuries through surveillance and analysis.
• Team Up for Sports Safety (TUFSS) An outreach program providing education and resources for sports safety.
• Athlete Testing Testing services for athletes to assess heat tolerance, hydration status, and performance metrics, including multi-day heat acclimation exercise studies at the Mission Heat Lab.
• Consulting Expert consulting services for organizations seeking to improve athlete and worker safety protocols, including heat safety, injury prevention, and athletic performance optimization.
• Summer Fellowship Program Educational fellowship program providing training and research opportunities for students in heat safety, injury prevention, and related fields.
• State High School Sports Safety Policies Advocacy and policy support program for implementing sports safety policies in high schools across U.S. states.

Quantifiable outcome

• Multi-day heat acclimation protocols demonstrated to improve heat tolerance and reduce heat illness risk

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.

• University of ConnecticutcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2010KSI is housed at UConn's College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources. The institute is integrated into the university's academic structure and utilizes faculty from the Department of Kinesiology. This partnership provides institutional infrastructure, research facilities, and academic credibility.
• College of Agriculture, Health and Natural ResourcescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHost college for KSI providing administrative infrastructure, research resources, and connection to UConn's broader academic mission.
• Department of KinesiologycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic department providing internationally recognized faculty expertise for KSI's research and programs in heat safety, injury prevention, and strength and conditioning.
• National Athletic Trainers' AssociationflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerKSI collaborated with NATA to release new safety guidelines on heat safety for athletic trainers and sports organizations nationwide.
• University of North FloridaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerKSI at UNF represents an extension of KSI's services and research to the University of North Florida campus.
• FIFAflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerKSI experts pushing FIFA to adopt stronger heat protection guidelines for soccer players competing in extreme heat conditions.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights10 records

Direct peers

• Gatorade Sports Science Institute (GSSI): GSSI is a corporate-backed research and education entity focused on athlete hydration, performance, and heat management. It directly overlaps with KSI's heat/hydration research mission and serves similar sports and exercise stakeholders globally.
• National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA): NATA is both a partner and a peer of KSI — it represents the athletic training profession, publishes safety position statements, and collaborates with KSI on heat safety guidelines. It addresses overlapping athlete safety topics and shares many of KSI's end audiences (athletic trainers in schools, colleges, and pro sports).
• USOPC Sports Medicine (United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee): USOPC Sports Medicine delivers clinical care, research, and performance services to elite Team USA athletes, including heat acclimation and exertional illness prevention. It is a direct functional peer to KSI for elite-athlete heat safety services.

Regional players

• Andrews Sports Medicine & Orthopaedic Center: Andrews is a prominent US sports medicine provider focused on orthopedic care and athlete performance with deep roots in the southeastern US. It overlaps with KSI on athlete safety consulting and research for professional and collegiate teams, though with a more clinical/orthopedic lens.

Others

• NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health): NIOSH's occupational heat stress program conducts research and publishes guidance for worker safety in hot environments — directly relevant to KSI's laborer segment. It is an enabling/thematic peer rather than a commercial competitor, but it shapes the standards KSI's labor-market work must align with.
• World Health Organization Heat & Health Programme: WHO's Heat & Health initiative provides global guidance on heat exposure, occupational health, and vulnerable populations. It is thematically adjacent and an international authority whose standards increasingly influence the markets KSI is trying to expand into (FIFA, labor, military).

Emerging players

• Catapult Sports: Catapult provides wearable athlete monitoring technology used to track physiological load and heat stress in real time. While product-based rather than research-based, it competes for sports safety budget and intersects with KSI's mission of preventing exertional incidents through data.

Broad incumbents

• American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM): ACSM is a large professional membership organization that publishes exercise science guidelines, certifications, and consensus statements — including heat illness prevention. It overlaps with KSI on authoritative guidance for exertional heat stroke and serves many of the same athletic training and sports medicine audiences.
• Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS): HSS is a leading hospital-based sports medicine institution that conducts research, provides clinical care, and consults on athlete safety and performance. It competes for elite-athlete consulting relationships and sports medicine research visibility at a significantly larger scale than KSI.
• NCAA Sport Science Institute: The NCAA Sport Science Institute operates as a broad governing-body resource on athlete health, safety, and performance across collegiate sports. It addresses heat illness alongside broader medical issues and competes for institutional attention and policy authority in the same domain as KSI.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/korey-stringer-institute

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Korey Stringer Institute