The company has planned to expand into OTT, NFT, and sports betting platforms with its new capital.
AI-driven sports highlights platform WSC Sports has closed a $100m Series D round, led by ION Crossover Partners (ICP). Existing investors, including Intel Capital, OG Tech and Detroit Venture Partners (Dan Gilbert), also participated in the round.
The company plans to use the new funding to support its growth plans for 2022 and beyond, continuing its expansion into new geographies, sports, and platforms such as OTT, NFTs, sports betting and more. In addition, the company is set to recruit 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 a growing number of rights-holders are recognising the strategic value of automating, customising, and scaling their digital content efforts to better engage with fans and monetise their content.
During 2021, more than 3.4m highlights were created using the company’s AI-based platform, which equates to over nine years’ worth of video content. It was also a year where the company released new products and tools for rights holders to connect with fans, such as WSC Stories. Over 6,000 stories were created, receiving close to 100m views, with an average CTR of more than 11%, changing the way fans discover and engage with sports content.
Daniel Shichman, CEO and Co-founder, WSC Sports, said: “We’re delighted to secure this significant round of funding and couldn’t have asked for better new partners than ICP to join our professional team of investors. ICP will contribute from their vast experience working with growth-stage technology companies as we continue our global expansion. 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 monetisation 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.”
Gilad Shany, ICP’s Managing Partner, who will be joining WSC Sports’ BoD, added: “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.”
