[AI Revolution](133) Quring Inos Wins CES Award Twice with Tennis Robot

Kwon Ye-chan (27), CEO of Curlinginos, developed a tennis robot integrated with artificial intelligence (AI) technology and won the CES Innovation Award twice in 2023 and 2025. CEO Kwon said, "It is a sports tech field that other startups rarely challenge, and since it is a robot product that has never existed before, I think it received good evaluations."

Tennis robot developed by Curlinginos. Photo by Curlinginos

He majored in robotics engineering at Incheon National University and conceived the business idea while serving in the military, playing tennis with officers and managing the tennis courts as a so-called ‘tennis soldier.’ Immediately after his discharge in 2019, he joined a startup club and formed a team of three to develop an unmanned tennis system including robots and applications (apps). As a result, they created an app called ‘Racket Time’ that helps users reserve tennis courts and developed an AI robot that becomes a tennis partner.

Curlinginos provides business-to-business (B2B) services to operate fully unmanned 24-hour tennis practice facilities. Stores that have adopted Curlinginos’ products number over 40 nationwide. The startup cost ranges from 30 to 40 million KRW, and the average monthly sales are about 10 million KRW. CEO Kwon said, "We are the only company that integrally supplies infrastructure and solutions," and predicted, "With 1.5 million tennis players in Korea and a market estimated at 300 billion KRW, the appeal of unmanned stores will grow even more."

The unmanned tennis system analyzes users’ posture. It recognizes users’ movements through unmanned cameras and provides advice such as "Please be careful with your left elbow" and "Please complete the follow-through swing." Early next year, they plan to introduce an AI umpire function that can judge in/out calls on the court and an unmanned access control system that can automatically turn on and off appliances such as air conditioners and heaters inside the facility. Currently, they are conducting a proof of concept (PoC) project with Hoban Group and exploring ways to install unmanned tennis practice facilities in new apartment community centers.

Next year, they expect good news from the global market. CEO Kwon said, "There is high interest in operating unmanned tennis stores in Southeast Asian countries with many resorts." They are preparing to supply by signing contracts with local businesses in Asian countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, and Taiwan.

CEO Kwon said, "As the working-age population decreases and labor costs rise, unmanned stores will become the trend," adding, "Not only cafes and convenience stores but also various sports are increasingly demanding unmanned solutions using AI technology." He stated, "In the future, we plan to expand our business to other sports using AI and datasets, not just tennis."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.