The accelerating program CNT Stadium, which discovers and nurtures promising startups in sports, is establishing itself as a growth platform spanning investment, commercialization, and research and development (R&D). It supports the entire growth process of startups, including direct investment, TIPS linkage, and market development, contributing to the activation of the sports startup ecosystem.
CNT Stadium is a sports industry startup support program organized by the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation (KSPO) and hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and operated by the accelerator CNTTech. Its goal is to discover and nurture innovative startups linked to the sports industry, including healthcare, content, the Internet of Things (IoT), and convergence.
Eligible applicants are corporations founded less than seven years ago in the sports industry, and corporations in new industries can participate if founded less than 10 years ago.
The program's strength is a growth support system that links investment and commercialization. It reviews direct investment for selected corporations and uses CNTTech's investment network to support follow-on fundraising and securing growth capital. Along with more than 500 million won in total direct investment, corporations that attract investment also receive linked recommendations for TIPS and LIPS, supporting research and development and access to policy funds.
Market development and commercialization support are carried out in tandem. Through online and offline promotion and market linkage programs, it supports customer acquisition and sales growth, and it enhances corporate competitiveness with mentoring by experts in the sports field and consulting on investment, finance, marketing, and IR. Even after the program ends, it operates follow-up programs such as investment linkages, open innovation, and network support to help sustain growth.
Representative corporations participating in CNT Stadium include Workation, which runs the outdoor brand RADIT. Workation unveiled ultralight, eco-friendly, smart outdoor products tailored to the backpacking trend and achieved sales of more than 5 billion won in 2024–2025.
From 2021 to 2025, CNT Stadium incubated a total of 64 corporations and directly invested 4.55 billion won in 24 of them. It also supported TIPS selection for 23 corporations, leading to the linkage of about 18.4 billion won in R&D funds.
As of 2025, the sales of incubated corporations increased 30% from the previous year, and the amount of new investment attracted reached 9.9 billion won. Employment rose about 53%, and 131 intellectual property (IP) rights were created.
CNTTech plans to strengthen nurturing in sports AI and deep tech and to advance a sports startup support model centered on private investment. It will also build a sustainable growth ecosystem for sports startups through step-by-step customized support and stronger business networks.