Israeli AI sports highlights company WSC Sports today announced the completion of a $100 million Series D financing round, led by ION Crossover Partners (ICP). Existing investors, including Intel Capital, O.G. Tech and Detroit Venture Partners (Dan Gilbert), also participated in the round.
The company plans to use the investment to expand into new countries, sports, and platforms such as OTT, NFTs, sports betting and more. WSC Sports is also set to hire more than 150 new employees this year, both in Israel and at its regional offices in New York, Sydney, and London.
WSC Sports surpassed more than 200 global customers in 2021, as more rights-holders recognized the strategic value of automating, customizing, and scaling their digital content efforts to better engage with fans and monetize their content.
In 2021, more than 3.4 million highlights were created using the company’s AI-based platform. The company also released innovative new products and tools for rights holders to connect with fans, such as WSC Stories. Over 6,000 stories were created, receiving close to 100 million views, with an average CTR of more than 11%, changing the way fans discover and engage with sports content.
WSP Sports cofounder and CEO Daniel Shichman said, "Sports media rights owners are embracing new ways to connect with their fans and generate new revenue streams. With new consumption habits moving at a rapid pace, short-form video has become a key component in user acquisition, retention, and monetization and our new products that were launched during 2021 for broadcasters, OTT providers and sports betting operators demonstrate the scale and variety of use-cases our platform supports".
ICP managing partner Gilad Shany said, "We have been following WSC’s progress over the last two years and found the team’s vision and execution highly impressive. Content is king, and we view sports content as one of the crown jewels of the digital age. WSC’s undeniable technology leadership is unlocking value for different stakeholders in the value chain. We look forward to taking part in the next chapter of WSC’s growth and innovation."
WSC was represented by Advs. Amir Sadeh and Moshe Sister from the Pearl Cohen law firm.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on February 15, 2022.
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