• funding Stage : pre-series A
• Raising Amount : KRW 1B
• Desired Fundraising Timeframe : 1Q 2025

The 2011 film ‘Moneyball’, starring Brad Pitt, tells the story of the Oakland Athletics’ remarkable success in Major League Baseball. Unlike wealthier franchises with large budgets for player acquisitions, the Athletics adopted a data-driven scouting strategy called Sabermetrics. Instead of relying on traditional scouting methods based on intuition and subjective evaluations, this analytical approach led the team to an incredible 20-game winning streak.  

Today’s featured company, Ubeeslab, develops products that track and analyze key performance metrics for athletes—such as distance covered, sprint count, average speed, and top sprint speed—helping both players and teams make data-driven decisions. Ubeeslab was founded in 2017 by CEO Gunwoo Hwang, who previously worked on algorithm development and data analysis at LG Display. The company initially focused on soccer-related products and services but plans to expand into other sports, including American football, rugby, and hockey.  

Ubeeslab’s flagship product, SOCCERBEE, is a GPS tracker similar to the device worn by South Korean player Hee-chan Hwang when he scored the winning goal against Portugal in the Qatar World Cup. Players wear a uniform equipped with SOCCERBEE on their backs and simply play as usual. The device then collects and provides data on key performance indicators such as total activity, average speed, sprint speed, and sprint distance, allowing players to analyze and improve their performance.  

One of SOCCERBEE’s most notable features is that it grants players ownership of their data. This is crucial for young athletes aspiring to go pro, as they can continuously track their development over time. Additionally, teams looking to recruit top talent require precise, long-term performance data. Just as the Athletics used Sabermetrics to refine their player selection process, SOCCERBEE provides valuable data that teams can utilize in scouting and recruitment.  

For athletes, using SOCCERBEE eliminates the need to undergo new performance assessments every time they transfer to a different team—their data is already recorded and readily available. Teams can also reference this data when making recruitment decisions, but ensuring its credibility is key. That’s why Ubeeslab is committed to establishing SOCCERBEE as a reliable and authenticated service, aiming to serve as a certification body in the player scouting process.  

However, while players own their data, teams can still utilize it effectively. Ubeeslab also operates SCB TEAM, an administrative module that aggregates individual player data to enhance overall team performance. Team managers can analyze this data to identify areas for improvement in underperforming players and reward those demonstrating exceptional effort.  

Additionally, Ubeeslab runs a platform that helps players—including aspiring professionals—find suitable teams during the off-season. Using SOCCERBEE data, they can be matched with amateur teams for training and practice.  

So, how has the company performed so far? Although SOCCERBEE was fully developed in 2019, it underwent three years of beta testing before launching officially in both South Korea and the U.S. in 2022. In its second year of official service, Ubeeslab secured a pre-Series A investment of approximately $750,000 (1 billion KRW). CEO Gunwoo Hwang attributes this funding to strong international demand and promising annual recurring revenue (ARR) growth.  

Ubeeslab has achieved over 40% annual growth based on hardware sales. Following the investment last year, the company made bold financial moves, doubling its revenue compared to the previous year and surpassing its break-even point. SOCCERBEE has been experiencing rapid growth, particularly in the U.S. market, where revenue has increased by an average of 73% annually over the past three years. Riding this momentum, Ubeeslab is expanding into Japan, Australia, the UK, Brazil, Mexico, and Canada.  

Recognizing SOCCERBEE’s potential in international markets, the Gyeonggi Center for Creative Economy & Innovation (GCCEI) has been supporting Ubeeslab through its Global Top-tier Elevator (GTE) program since last year. CEO Hwang expressed gratitude, stating, “Through the GTE program, we’ve met more international partners and significantly boosted our brand awareness.”  

After leaving a corporate job to pursue his passion for sports and founding Ubeeslab, CEO Gunwoo Hwang is now seeking additional pre-Series A investors to drive further growth. He closed with a confident statement about the company’s potential:  

“Ubeeslab’s stock price is the lowest it will ever be today.”

What problem are we trying to solve?

So, the main issue we’re tackling is that athletes in team sports like football, American football, rugby, and hockey often don’t know exactly how much they run or how fast they are during a game.
Because they lack this data, their training isn’t as structured as it could be, leading to all kinds of problems.
They can’t really gauge their own performance accurately or determine the right training intensity to stay at their best. 

This makes it harder to see structured improvements and increases the risk of injury. Coaches and managers face similar issues because they don’t have a clear, objective way to monitor player movements, which can lead to poor decision-making in training and tactics.

How do we solve this problem?

So, what we’re doing with Soccerbee is taking the same GPS technology that the pros use and making it accessible through a mobile app. This means anyone, not just professional athletes, can easily get professional-level performance analysis. After a game or training session, players can check their stats like distance, speed, and agility instantly. 

Over time, they can track their progress and make more informed decisions about their training. This kind of structured, data-driven development used to be just for the pros, but now, with Soccerbee, aspiring players can manage their own training in a systematic, professional way.

What are our competitive advantages and technical strengths compared to competitors?

With Soccerbee, we put data ownership directly in the hands of the players. This means they don’t have to deal with the hassle and costs of managing team-wide tracking systems, and they can keep building their performance data no matter which team they’re on. 

Traditionally, teams had to handle all the equipment and data, and players couldn’t take their performance history with them when they switched teams. We’ve focused a lot on making sure our automated data analysis is accurate and that our platform is easy to use. Plus, we’re boosting community features to keep users engaged and motivated.

What products do we offer, and what is their current status?

Right now, we’re focusing on the soccer market with three main solutions. 

Soccerbee lets players track their physical performance during games and training, reviewing their stats over time and generating digital player cards like those in soccer video games. Coaches and team managers use SCB Team to analyse player data on a team level, helping them monitor fitness, effort, and consistency for better data-driven decisions. Players benefit from more precise feedback from their coaches. 

During the off-season, many join amateur teams or play as guests in local matches. Using SOCCERBEE, they can find teams at their skill level nearby and keep playing.

What is the size of our target market, and who are our key customers?

Our primary target market is team sports athletes, which includes over 800 million players worldwide when you count soccer, American football, rugby, hockey, and lacrosse. 

Right now, we’re honing in on elite soccer players aged 13 to 23, who typically spend more on soccer until they go pro, usually between 19 and 23. That gives us an LTV of about 7 to 10 years. 

For context, there are over 4.5 million soccer players in the US alone, around 1 million each in Japan and the UK, and about 130,000 in South Korea.

What is our business model?

We run on a product sales and software subscription model. Players purchase the GPS tracker and a vest to wear it, then subscribe to our software for performance analysis. 

On the B2B side, SCB Team offers a SaaS subscription where teams pay a monthly or yearly fee to access analytics and insights.

What achievements has our team made so far?

After beta testing during COVID, we launched in Korea and the US in 2022, and we’ve been growing at a solid 40% annually based on hardware sales. Our US growth has been particularly strong, with a 73% annual revenue increase over the past three years.  As our brand took off in North America, we expanded to Japan, Australia, the UK, Brazil, Mexico, and Canada. 

Our SaaS subscription model was in beta from 2023 to 2024, achieving an 80% retention rate and over 120% revenue growth. Starting this year, we’re rolling out the full subscription model for all services to ensure sustainable revenue growth.

What is our team’s competitive advantage?

Our team is made up of people who actually play sports, from developers to marketers, so we really get the market. We’ve got dedicated teams in Korea and the US covering everything from product development and testing to manufacturing, distribution, marketing, and sales. This setup lets us validate our product in Korea first, then efficiently scale it to international markets.

What efforts are we making for international expansion, and what results have we achieved?

From the start, Soccerbee was designed with global markets in mind. We launched directly in North America and have been steadily gaining traction. As a result, our brand awareness is growing not just among customers but also with partners and influencers. We expect our marketing efficiency to keep improving globally as this momentum continues.

How does the GTE program facilitate your expansion into international markets?

Through the GTE (Global Top-tier Elevator) program at the Gyeonggi Center for Creative Economy & Innovation, we were introduced to a major sports equipment company in North America, giving us valuable insights into the local market. This experience was instrumental in helping us establish sales channels and refine our business strategy. Additionally, we had the opportunity for a one-on-one investment review with a Silicon Valley VC executive, allowing us to further solidify our plans for securing international investment.

Three reasons why we need investment:

First, we need investment because we’ve found product-market fit, and our profitability is improving, with an average growth of 40% per year since 2019. After our last funding round, we doubled our revenue and hit profitability, and with more investment, we can stabilise and scale our revenue further. 

Second, our business model is validated, and our international expansion is picking up speed, with over 50% of our revenue now from overseas, mainly due to rapid growth in North America. Our SaaS retention rate is over 80%, and subscription revenue is growing at more than 120%. With investment, we can fully transition to a subscription model, enhancing revenue stability. 

Third, performance tracking technology is becoming essential in sports. Since 2017, FIFA has pushed for this tech and created official certification. We got in early and built a globally competitive product at a more affordable price. As adoption increases, our strong tech and brand will create a high barrier to entry for competitors.