Mips Investor Relations Material

If you’ve used or seen someone using a helmet in the last few years, you’ve likely seen a MIPS-equipped helmet, recognizable from the yellow liner and small yellow dot on the helmet shell. 

Multi-directional Impact Protection (MIPS) is an integral part of the safety technology in helmets, and over 140 brands incorporate it in over 883 helmets. In 2021, over twelve million helmets with MIPS were sold.

The first MIPS helmet was actually an equestrian one, launched in 2007 after the student Peter Haldin and the brain surgeon Hans Von Holst had discovered the shortcomings of standard helmets. The traditional helmets were only tested for linear impacts rather than rotational forces, which are more harmful to the human brain. Marcus Seyffarth is head of product development at MIPS. He uses the analogy of stretching a rubber band to explain the strain these rotational forces can have:

Halldin and Von Holst realized, however, that it can be hard to break through with a new product and brand in a fairly brand-dominated market. So, the founders released their first third-party helmet, including the MIPS system. Today, the company works exclusively with manufacturers and integrates their technology into the helmets from the beginning of the design process.

After the initial lower margin “heavy lifting” when onboarding a new brand and/or model (fitting the MIPS technology into a specific helmet, safety testing it, and then mass producing the layers) is paid for, basically every incremental licensing dollar for producing and selling the helmets drops straight to the bottom line. As a result of this, the company has increased their EBIT by an incredible 125x in the last six years, and revenue by 11.3x, due to en impressive margin expansion and increased adoption of the MIPS technology.