London-based Sport Buff raises €2.5M to help broadcasters drive engagement

Picture credit: Sport Buff

London-based Sport Buff, an organization that specialises in gamification and on-screen engagement, introduced on Monday that it has raised $2.5M (roughly €2.5M) in a Seed spherical of funding. The announcement comes a 12 months after the corporate raised its pre-seed funding in February 2021. 

The funding comes from a listing of contemporary buyers, together with Sport Republic (UK), Longboard Capital (US), Calvert Drive (NZ), and Intrepid Ventures (CY). Matthew Benham, proprietor of English Premier League membership, Brentford FC, and different people additionally made  private investments.

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Benn Achilleas, Founder and CEO, says, “This funding spherical is a big endorsement for our product, supply, and imaginative and prescient and can drive the following huge steps in our improvement.”

He provides, “It brings vital funding mixed with the large expertise, invaluable connections, and wonderful recommendation of buyers, which can assist us to scale up, attain new companions and ship for viewers, manufacturers, and broadcasters.”

Henrik Kraft, Chairman & Co-Founding father of Sport Republic, says, “Our funding in Sport Buff at this early stage is a testomony not solely to our perception within the enterprise, its management, and its supply however the alternative they’ll deliver throughout our companies and to the worldwide sports activities and broadcast business.”

Sport Buff: What you have to know

Based in 2019 by tech entrepreneur Benn Achilleas and Jonty Whitehead, Sport Buff makes use of graphics to suit the unique protection and broadcasting layouts to offer viewers additional data, engagement, and interplay. It consists of posts, polls, and quizzes. 

The corporate says it goals to reinforce the viewer expertise.

The UK firm claims that broadcasters who use its platform have witnessed a rise in viewing time, captured invaluable knowledge and drove higher engagement with their viewers. 

The platform additionally claims to assist create new on-screen sponsorship property, serving to them to higher have interaction, retain and monetise their viewers.

The UK firm has already labored with a variety of sports activities rights holders and broadcasters, together with MLS (Main League Soccer), FIBA, and DAZN on Basketball Champions League, FOX Sports activities and NRL (Rugby League), Caracol TV [Colombia], and KAN [Israel], throughout a variety of platforms, together with Internet OTT, Android, and iOS, in addition to Twitch and YouTube.

Achilleas provides, “Sport Buff works for rights holders, broadcasters, and shoppers as viewers are confirmed to play and stick with the protection, then come again for extra. In consequence, we’re altering the best way the world watches sport. We’ve vital international offers, with broadcasters and rights holders, each in place and within the pipeline, and we’ve continued to develop our capabilities by means of vital hires within the UK, Europe, North America, and the Center East.”

Investor

Sport Republic is a London-based funding agency within the sports activities and leisure business. The corporate’s imaginative and prescient is to develop high-potential sports activities companies and sports activities expertise firms. 

Henrik Kraft says, “The worldwide sports activities market is price over $50B in media rights and $200B in betting revenues alone. It wants methods to extend engagement, construct audiences and create contemporary business alternatives – particularly with next-generation audiences – and Sport Buff can ship all three. So while this summer time has seen difficult situations for funding, when the appropriate enterprise and alternative presents itself, there’ll at all times be robust curiosity.”