Curtis James Bate
Location
Tejina, Canary Islands, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, ES
Company
Wave Score
Industry
Sports
Top Skills
Curtis James Bate
Location
Tejina, Canary Islands, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, ES
Company
Wave Score
Industry
Sports
Top Skills
Top Skills
Surfing
Possesses extensive personal surfing experience with 35 years in the water, providing deep domain knowledge.
Surf Judging
An ISA-certified surf judge with 35 years of experience in the water, providing expert human judging for AI validation.
Entrepreneurship
Demonstrated entrepreneurial drive by founding Wave Score and owning Baby Boards, navigating the challenges of startup and small business management.
About Curtis James
Bio
I'm Curtis Bate, founder of Wave Score and an ISA-certified surf judge with 35 years in the water and nearly a decade in the surf industry — six years managing Byrne Surfboards Australia, three years owning Baby Boards. Since January 2026 I've been building an AI judging engine that scores a wave pool ride 0–10 on real judging criteria and shows the manoeuvre-by-manoeuvre breakdown behind the number. Working with CTO Yash Shukla (India), the engine now agrees with my own certified judging 91.7% of the time across 200 hand-scored clips. Raising a small pre-seed round to take it live in a wave pool.
Company
Wave Score
Elevator Pitch
Wave Score is building an AI-powered real-time judging system for surf wave pools. It provides objective, performance-based metrics for measured progression, live training, and post-surf analytics. The system aims to fill the gap of accurate and data-driven scoring in wave pools where traditional human judging is inconsistent.
Industry
Sports
Team Size
1-5 employees
Funding Stage
Pre-Seed
Funding Raised
None/Bootstrapped
Annual Revenue
$0 to $100k
Skills
| Skill | Strength | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Surfing | Possesses extensive personal surfing experience with 35 years in the water, providing deep domain knowledge. | |
| Surf Judging | An ISA-certified surf judge with 35 years of experience in the water, providing expert human judging for AI validation. | |
| Entrepreneurship | Demonstrated entrepreneurial drive by founding Wave Score and owning Baby Boards, navigating the challenges of startup and small business management. | |
| Surf Industry | Possesses nearly a decade of professional experience in the surf industry, including management and business ownership roles. | |
| Founder | Successfully founded and is currently leading Wave Score, an AI judging engine for surf wave pools, and previously owned Baby Boards. | |
| Built Product | Developed an AI judging engine for surf wave pools, demonstrating 91.7% agreement with certified human judging. | |
| AI/Machine Learning Development | Led the development of an AI judging engine that objectively scores wave pool rides based on real judging criteria. | |
| Business Ownership | Owned and operated Baby Boards for three years, gaining firsthand experience in small business management. | |
| Management | Managed Byrne Surfboards Australia for six years, overseeing operations within the surf industry. | |
| Product Development | Responsible for building and bringing to market an innovative AI-powered judging system for the surf industry. | |
| Sports Technology | Building an AI-powered real-time judging system specifically for surf wave pools. | |
| Wave Pool Technology | Focused on creating an AI system to accurately score rides in wave pool environments. | |
| Data Analysis | Utilized data from 200 hand-scored clips to validate the AI engine's accuracy against certified judging. | |
| Software Development | Involved in building a sophisticated AI judging engine from the ground up since January 2026. | |
| Strategy | Developed the strategic vision for Wave Score to fill the gap of objective scoring in wave pools. | |
| Fundraising | Actively engaged in raising a pre-seed round to secure funding for Wave Score's launch. | |
| Artificial Intelligence | Leveraging AI for innovative applications within the sports and entertainment sector, specifically surf judging. | |
| Raised Funding | Actively raising a pre-seed round to launch Wave Score. | |
| Team Leadership | Collaborating with a CTO from India to develop the AI judging engine. |
Experiences
JOBWave Score
Title
Founder
Position Description
Leading the development of an AI-powered real-time judging system for surf wave pools, focusing on objective performance metrics, live training, and post-surf analytics.
Accomplishment Notes
Built an AI judging engine that agrees with certified judging 91.7% of the time across 200 hand-scored clips, and is actively raising a pre-seed round for launch.
JOBByrne Surfboards Australia
Title
Manager
Position Description
Managed operations for a surfboard manufacturing company.
Accomplishment Notes
Managed the company for six years, gaining significant experience in the surf industry.
JOBBaby Boards
Title
Owner
Position Description
Owned and operated a surfboard business.
Accomplishment Notes
Successfully owned and operated Baby Boards for three years, gaining experience in small business management within the surf industry.