The sports industry startup-leap support project is taking root as a growth platform for sports startups by linking investment, research and development (R&D), and market expansion. Observers say it is driving the growth of startups through direct investment and connections to the Ministry of SMEs and Startups technology startup support (TIPS) program, going beyond simple incubation.
The sports industry startup-leap support program, organized by the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation (KSPO) and hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, aims to create an innovation ecosystem in the sports industry and expand job creation by supporting commercialization, investment attraction, technology advancement, and market expansion. It targets corporations in the leap phase that have been in business for at least three years but less than seven.
CNTTech was selected as the program operator for six consecutive years. It proved its expertise by incubating a total of 47 corporations over the past three years—18 in 2023, 16 in 2024, and 13 in 2025.
Investment-linked outcomes also stand out. Over the past three years, it directly invested a total of 1.7 billion won in eight incubated corporations, and five corporations were selected for TIPS, securing 4.2 billion won in R&D funding. Of the capital from two sports-focused funds managed by the operator, 87% was deployed to incubated corporations, with cumulative investment reaching 5.4 billion won.
Corporation growth has also produced visible results. In 2025, average sales of incubated corporations rose 114% from the previous year, and the amount of investment attracted reached 9.5 billion won. New hires increased 16% year over year, and 92 intellectual property rights were created.
A representative case is the sports smart footwear corporation "Bark." Bark is developing customized sports footwear using smart sensors that analyze plantar pressure and gait data and AI-based foot diagnosis technology. With solutions that prevent sports injuries and improve athletic performance, it achieved annual sales of 10 billion won in 2025 and created a total of 38 jobs, including 15 new hires this year.
After being discovered through the 2023 sports accelerating program, Bark secured research and development funding through direct investment, follow-on investment linkage, and support for TIPS selection. It also received promotional support, including production of YouTube content and online feature articles, laying the groundwork for growth.
The strength of this project is its support system that organically links investment, technology, and sales channels. The operator executes direct investments using its own sports funds and connects follow-on investments through networks of venture capital (VC) and corporate venture capital (CVC). For selected corporations, it considers direct investments of more than 300 million won, and for invested corporations, it links recommendations for TIPS and LIPS to support securing research and development and policy funds.
Market expansion and marketing support are also provided in tandem. Leveraging cooperative networks, it supports customer acquisition and business expansion, while working to raise corporate awareness through in-house promotional platforms such as startup-focused broadcasts, newspaper columns, and YouTube channels.
Going forward, it will strengthen AI-based growth support. Based on cooperative networks with large and mid-sized domestic and overseas corporations and financial and investment institutions, it will support market entry and overseas market expansion, while using its in-house development organization and big data and AI capabilities to help startups adopt AI and advance their business models.