At Interlagos, the startup pitch acquired a small complication: the room moved. In Arena Hub’s 2024 Pitch Lap, a representative from each finalist delivered a pitch during a fast lap in a Stock Car driven by Alan Khodair. A six-minute presentation to a jury followed. The winner, Trashin, worked in recycling. Even in motorsport, innovation sometimes begins with what gets left behind.
- Arena Hub connects startups with sports organizations, brands and investors.
- Its programs combine mentoring, industry introductions and partner challenges.
- The 2025 Olympic challenge drew 163 applicants and paid R$100,000 in prizes.
- Basic community membership is listed as free.
The racing-seat pitch is good theatre. It also reveals something about Arena Hub’s business. Technology founders need attention, but attention alone rarely answers their awkward questions: Who owns this problem? Who controls the budget? Who can authorize a test? Arena Hub organizes encounters with the industry people positioned to answer them.
A stadium address, an online opening
Arena Hub was announced in 2019 with a planned home inside Allianz Parque, the São Paulo sports and entertainment complex. EY and 2simple helped construct the project; Marden Menezes led the independent entity at announcement. Pedro Daniel was a co-creator. Fernando Patara, identified in subsequent reporting as a cofounder, became its head of innovation.
Then came an opening without the usual gathering. Arena Hub began operating digitally on May 14, 2020, during the pandemic. The assumption that a community would first assemble in a physical space had become impractical. Online meetings and mentoring gave the network a way to start while ordinary sports activity was disrupted.
By its first anniversary, Exame reported almost 90 startups and 17 editions of Arena Hub Talks. The discussions included women in sport, fan engagement and Paralympic technology. Its leadership planned to retain digital exchanges while adding physical activity at the stadium. The useful discovery was that an address could confer identity without determining every encounter.
The customer comes before the cleverness
In 2020, Arena Hub and Sebrae ran Like a Player, a challenge that helped map the startup ecosystem. Patara later described an instructive mismatch: energetic, creative founders still needed to understand sports organizations’ needs more deeply. The answer was Podium Labs, launched in 2021 with Catarina Capital, adding structured acceleration to the introductions.
That diagnosis explains the company’s place in the market. A startup may know how to analyze video; a club has to decide how the analysis enters a coach’s routine. A fan platform may attract users; a rights holder has commercial obligations to consider. Arena Hub’s expertise concerns the meeting between entrepreneurship and the working habits of sports institutions.
Podium’s current third-edition page offers specialist mentoring, workshops, strategic connections and possible investment. Arena Hub also serves sports entities and strategic partners. For founders, the practical benefit is proximity to potential customers. For organizations, it is a route to finding specialist suppliers without expecting their own staff to survey the entire startup market.
- 01Industry problemPartner defines the need
- 02Startup selectionApplications and assessment
- 03Mentoring + pitchRefine and present
- 04Possible pilotCommercial work still follows
Brain training meets the recycling business
The Brazilian Olympic Committee challenge made that breadth visible. In 2025, 163 startups applied and ten finalists received mentoring before presentations at COB Expo. Sensorial won with neuroscience and technology aimed at strengthening cognitive skills, including attention, reaction and decision-making. Pro Soccer, which supports communication between sports departments, placed second. Trashin placed third.
The prizes were R$60,000, R$30,000 and R$10,000 respectively. These were awards to participating startups, not investment raised by Arena Hub. The podium is nevertheless revealing: a sports innovation program can place brain function, organizational communication and waste management in the same conversation. The business of sport extends well beyond the scoreboard.
Arena Hub operates between specialist sports organizations and general startup support. Founders can also approach clubs directly, join a generalist accelerator or work through another sports innovation hub, such as Sportheca. Arena Hub’s distinguishing offer is its collection of partner-led programs across different sports settings. The quality of that offer depends on whether the relevant organization has a problem the founder can actually solve.
Free entry; commercial work ahead
The public Basic membership includes ecosystem groups, a digital questionnaire assessment and a listing in the startup map. It is marked free. Partner programs add their own selection processes and benefits. An early Podium investor proposal described convertible investment of R$100,000 to R$400,000 per startup for equity participation of 6% to 20%. Those historical proposed terms should not be mistaken for today’s membership price.
The 2026 Ticket Sports challenge brought the format to participation sports, targeting solutions for athletes, runners and organizers. Its announced prizes totaled R$50,000. Its terms make a useful distinction: participation guarantees neither hiring nor investment, and finalists cover their travel. A founder should budget for the work around the opportunity, then define what a successful pilot would demonstrate.
The meeting gets a longer life
On October 1, 2026, COB and Arena Hub launched the second Olympic challenge, expanding from six innovation themes to 11. Applications close January 10, 2027; the final is scheduled for May 18. A separate COB NEXT STARTUPS recognition opens another route for early-stage ventures. Applicants will also receive profiles on Arena Hub Intelligence so organizations can find them throughout the year.
“The aim is to put the right solution into sport.”Ricardo Mazzucca, CEO, October 2026
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The lesson other founders can copy is modest and demanding: ask the buyer about the problem before polishing the pitch. An introduction helps when someone has the authority, incentive and capacity to use the solution. Without those conditions, even a memorable lap leaves the business where it started. Arena Hub’s next test is what happens after everyone climbs out of the car.