Sports Tech Startup 'QMIT' Secures 3 Billion KRW Series A Funding

[Asia Economy Reporter Park So-yeon] QMIT, the operator of the athlete management system (AMS) 'plco' designed to prevent injuries in sports athletes, has completed a Series A investment round worth 3 billion KRW.

According to the investment industry on the 7th, this funding led by Bokwang Investment included new investors Schmidt, NBH Capital, and Big Basin Capital.

Founded in 2018 by CEO Lee Sang-gi, a former K League professional soccer player who gained attention as an entrepreneur, QMIT operates the athlete management system 'plco' that collects and analyzes data necessary to assess athletes' conditions such as fatigue, stress index, sleep duration, and exercise intensity, providing this information to coaches for training plan development.

Recognized for its higher visibility, intuitiveness, and convenience compared to existing athlete management services, QMIT's 'plco' is utilized by domestic professional soccer clubs and major associations. Key clients include the Korea Football Association (KFA), the Professional Football League (K League), Gimcheon Sangmu (K League 1), and Gyeongnam FC (K League 2). Recently, the company has expanded its customer base beyond soccer by securing service supply contracts with Seoul Woori Card WON (men's volleyball) and Bucheon Hana OneQ (women's basketball) consecutively.

Kang Min-gu, CEO of Bokwang Investment, who led QMIT's Series A round, stated, "With the increase in funds aimed at the growth of the sports industry and the influx of talent from other specialized fields, an environment has been established for domestic sports tech companies to grow stably. Considering CEO Lee Sang-gi’s deep understanding of the sports industry as a former professional soccer player, the utility and value of the data forming the business foundation, as well as the composition and capabilities of the core personnel, we judged that this company can grow rapidly and decided to invest."

Hong Seon-gi, Senior Investment Officer at Big Basin Capital, a new investor, said, "The technology to collect and analyze data necessary to diagnose athletes' conditions will be a key technology that will dominate the wellness market within the sports industry in the future. QMIT is a startup that possesses high expertise and technological capability in sports science as well as a thorough understanding of the field, and it is expected to lead changes in the sports industry from a leading position."

QMIT plans to use the operating funds raised through this investment to develop and apply artificial intelligence technology for advancing injury prediction models and to conduct market research for global expansion.

CEO Lee Sang-gi of QMIT said, "This year, we will aggressively recruit talent with a high understanding of the sports industry across all job categories to strengthen our foundation, while also undertaking various attempts to expand our scope, such as expanding the B2C business model and operating a testbed for global expansion. We aim to become a global sports tech startup that positively transforms sports culture not only in Korea but worldwide."