On the TechTO stage ×2
Stadium Live Studios and Maple VC
Watch on YouTube ↗Stadium Live App and Maple VC
Watch on YouTube ↗First seen on the TechTO stage in 2021. Every talk is searchable — ask the archive about Kevin ↗
In their words
While my marks were going down, my sales were going up.
The reason why I started this is all about founder-market fit. All the products that I'd been doing were great companies, great products, but it wasn't me.
It started as a side project, to be honest. We weren't even expecting to get funding. Our fundraising actually started from a Twitter DM.
More from TechTO ×1
Around the web ×1
Quick answers
What is Kevin Kim known for?
Co-founding Stadium Live Studios, a Toronto app where Gen Z sports fans build avatars, collect items and play sports-themed games. He has described it as closer to Club Penguin or Roblox than to a scores or betting app.
What did Kevin Kim do before Stadium Live?
He ran a clothing import business on an early Shopify store while at the University of Waterloo, left engineering after three years, and sold the company to Hong Kong-based YesStyle. He then did product at InVision and Checkout 51, and was the first product hire at Drop.
How did Stadium Live start raising?
Kim posted weekly progress on Twitter without pitching anyone. An investor at Maveron DM'd him in December 2019 — before the company was incorporated — and that conversation started the round.
Why build for young sports fans?
He told TechTO the incumbents were chasing millennials with sports betting because that is where the money was, and nobody was building for kids who follow highlights and streamers rather than whole games.