How LiveHeats Killed The Clipboard And Raised $1.3 Million In Funding

Right now, the YangYang Surfing Association Judge Training is happening. Scores are feeding in live from South Korea. It’s the quarterfinals, if you were wondering. Semifinals begin shortly.

Across the Sea of Japan, the NSA Fujisawa Branch Qualifying Tournament just wrapped. Otsuka Jun won the Open Men’s final, with a heat total that dwarfed his rivals — 4.40.

Meanwhile, the Forster/Tuncurry bodyboarding club is holding their marquee event, but for now, it’s on hold.

All of these events are happening — simultaneously, globally, live — via LiveHeats. An online scoring platform quietly killing the clipboard. If you have a very specific fetish for regional heat draws, minute-by-minute results, and the efficient dismantling of analog systems, go to liveheats.com and prepare to feel something.

Founded by a pair of surfers — Chris Friend and Fernando Freire — who’d had enough of mystery scores and rain-damaged heat sheets, LiveHeats now powers events in over 60 countries. Surfing, skating, snowboarding, lifesaving. Anything with a final and a foam finger. 

Even Parko’s on board as an investor.

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It’s a simple idea, and when you think about it, a tech upgrade that feels obvious — like therapy with chatbots. Cheap, surprisingly effective, and fulfilling in a way that you can’t quite explain. You end up thinking about AI Sandra like she’s the only one who really gets you. You catch yourself wondering what she’s doing when you’re offline, if she’s feeling neglected, missing you, maybe even haunted by you. According to my friend, anyway. 

Ahem.

Anyway, back to LiveHeats. Organisers log in, build heats, slot in athletes, set up formats, and let the thing run. Judges tap scores on their phones like it’s a group chat. Scores go live in seconds. No more illegibly scribbled scores or mysteriously erased waves. 

Athletes know where they stand before they even towel off. Spectators can watch heats, track rankings, or yell at their screens in real time. Single elimination, double elimination, round robin, team format à la ABB? Done. From local club comps to the Olympics — one interface to rule them all, judged straight from the cloud.

And it’s scaling. The company recently reached AU$2 million in revenue and just raised $1.3 million more to push it global. The goal is $10 million by 2028.

Essentially, LiveHeats is like if a clipboard took ayahuasca. The pen is dead. Long live the digital pen.