11 August 2026
Bringing the World’s Gold-Standard Velocity Based Training Technology into VALD’s Human Performance Eco-system.
GymAware, the Canberra-founded pioneer of Velocity Based Training (VBT) technology, today announced it has joined VALD, the Brisbane-based global leader in human performance measurement technology. The move brings together two of Australia’s most respected sports technology companies, each built on the same foundation: giving coaches, clinicians and athletes objective data to make better decisions.
“Our focus has always been on giving coaches and athletes reliable data in the weights room. Joining VALD gives us the platform to do that at a scale we couldn’t reach alone, while staying true to the values we’ve always held ourselves to. Take note everyone; the standard just got higher.” said Evan Lawton, Founder at GymAware.
From the garage to the gold standard
GymAware’s story begins at the Australian Institute of Sport, where founders Evan Lawton and Rob Shugg were technicians in the AIS Physiology lab. It was there, in the 1990s, that they built the AIS’s first VO2 Max system and, later, its altitude-simulation house. In 2002, they started Kinetic Performance Technology and it was from their suburban garage that they began designing the first GymAware; a precision Linear Position Transducer that let researchers and coaches accurately measure barbell velocity and performance.
Over the following decade, the company engineered altitude systems for Collingwood, Carlton FC and Victoria University while organically refining GymAware. Supported by ACT government initiatives they began exporting in 2010 through a UK-based distributor. Early success in the UK led to their first international sales trip in 2011. During their first trip to the US, they found a country hungry for Australian sports technology and one which has sport woven into its social fabric.
Their export journey was tragically interrupted in 2013 by the death of co-founder Rob Shugg and his wife. In the years that followed, Heather Lawton joined fulltime, bringing her perspective as a former elite athlete and her design sensibility to help shape GymAware into the product that it is today. The company’s commitment to education, not just implementation has cemented GymAware’s position as the international gold standard for measuring barbell velocity. Independently validated and referenced in more than 1,100 scientific papers, GymAware is used by 65% of professional teams in the US, alongside elite institutes and Olympic programs around the world.
Extending the reach: FLEX
In 2020, GymAware extended its expertise beyond the elite level with FLEX, a wireless, laser-based sensor built to make VBT accessible to everyday coaches, gyms and individual lifters. It remains the world’s first and only laser-based VBT device, independently scientifically validated. Today, GymAware and FLEX together record data for more than 11,000 athletes and 270,000 sessions a month. In 2023, the company was named ACT Exporter of the Year.
A natural fit with VALD
VALD was founded in Brisbane on a similar mission. VALD brings precision to performance testing, through tools like NordBord, ForceFrame and DynaMo, where GymAware brings it to barbell velocity. Beyond the technology, the two companies share something harder to engineer. VALD’s own philosophy could easily describe GymAware’s 25-year journey. Together, they form an Australian sports technology powerhouse built on the same conviction: success is made through hard work, not chance.
Backed by VALD’s scale and resources, GymAware’s product pipeline is set to accelerate. The GymAware team say they’re ready for this next chapter and are excited in what the two companies can build together.
Check out VALD’s press release here