Advanced fall-protection technology – previously the preserve of professional motorsport and elite equestrian – is moving into mass retail through a tie-up between the world’s largest sporting goods retailer and a French wearable airbag specialist.
Decathlon has entered a strategic innovation partnership with French wearable technology company In&motion to commercialize AI-driven airbag vests for equestrian and urban mobility users, with the two companies targeting a price point competitive with conventional mechanical protection gear.
The deal, announced Feb. 27, positions the French retail giant to scale a category that has so far remained confined to niche, high-cost segments. In&motion, based in Annecy, has built its technology over more than a decade, training its predictive algorithms on data generated by over 450 million kilometres of user activity. Its system – a small electronic module called the In&box – performs 1,000 analyses per second and can deploy an airbag in 60 milliseconds when a fall is detected, targeting the abdomen, thorax, neck and spine.
The partnership will launch with two products. The first is a horse-riding vest with dual certification for equestrian use and urban mobility – claimed as a first in the category. The second is designed for city commuters on bikes or scooters.
What this partnership means for the industry
The move shows how mass-market sporting goods retailers are adopting technologies that originated in professional and motorsport contexts.
In&motion’s system was first developed for motorcycling before expanding to skiing and equestrian sports; it now protects more than 120,000 users globally. Bringing that technology under Decathlon’s commercial umbrella shifts the competitive dynamic for traditional rigid-protector manufacturers, who have long held the price-performance advantage in mass protective equipment.
Decathlon – which operates more than 1,817 stores worldwide and reported revenues of roughly €16.2 billion for the 2024 fiscal year – has preferred to work with specialized technology partners rather than build proprietary solutions from scratch. The broader roadmap, according to the announcement, will extend to additional sport categories beyond the two launch products.
