QL Gaming Group, the sports data and gaming platform that operates RotoQL, BetQL, Accuscore, and Tennis Insight, has been acquired by Entercom, the local sports and news audio broadcaster, for $32M in an all-cash deal
Media
River Raises $6M for an Entirely New Way to Discover What Content is Trending on the Web
Instagram, Reddit, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, Newsletters – the number of disparate platforms that we are engaging with to consume new content seems never-ending. River, a content discovery platform, encompasses all mediums to organize everything people are talking about online into bite-sized, shareable stories in real-time. River ensures that its community is fully anonymous, allowing users to discover new information and different perspectives than they may normally be exposed to through their own networks. AlleyWatch caught up with CEO and Cofounder Jeremy Fisher to learn more about the team behind River, the company’s future plans, and recent round of funding from investors that include Founders Fund, .406 Ventures, Box Group, Scooter Braun, Josh Kushner, and Raised in Space.
Buzzer Raises $4M to Change the Way We Consume Sports and Make it More Accessible
Millennials are watching less sports than previous generations. Bo Han, a former Twitter employee, is building Buzzer to make sports more accessible and flexible for sports fans, when and how they want it. The platform delivers what’s dubbed as “short-form live” content that allows fans to leverage their existing subscriptions or through nominal micropayments to view live games. Han was kind enough to join us to share more about the experience of fundraising during a time there were no live sports, his offer to return capital to investors during the pandemic in the wake of uncertainty, the company’s future plans, and recent round from notable investors that include Lerer Hippeau, Sapphire Sport, R&R Venture Partners, Imagination Captial, Anthony Noto, Richard Parsons, and Grace Kim.
Air Raises $12M as Demand for Visual Storytelling Shows No Signs of Slowing Down
In today’s content-driven world, businesses continue to rely more on visual storytelling than ever before. Remote work has only accelerated this. Air is the cloud collaboration tool for creative minds that fundamentally changes the way teams approach visual work, making collaboration easier, and eliminating the need to move assets to and from the cloud. CEO and Cofounder Shane Hegde discusses the evolution of Air, product roadmap, and more on the experience of raising a round via Zoom meetings. Backers in this latest round (Series A) include Tiger Global, Lerer Hippeau, Slack Fund, WndrCo, Red Sea Ventures, and Advancit Capital.
REDD Intelligence Raises $5.8M for its Intelligence Platform Focused on Emerging Markets
“We are a very successful niche player, and I recalled being asked: why we were planning to be profitable so soon in the model. My response was: because we can. In one of the other 50+ rejections, I heard that the respective fund was not keen to proceed because they had serious doubts I could raise subsequent rounds, my answer to that was that I was building a sustainable company and not a fundraising machine.” Learn more about how Valeria Morozovsky Girimonte was able to break through and raise the first institutional round for REDD Intelligence, the leading intelligence platform for emerging markets.
Applicaster Raises $11M to Let Media Companies Manage OTT Across All Platforms
Applicaster’s Zapp App Management Platform simplifies the development and lifecycle management of OTT media applications. In an era, where media companies must be where the audience is, Applicaster enables these companies to seamlessly widen their distribution without custom development for each platform and multiple codebases. CEO and Cofounder Jonathan Laor shares more on how the company was bourne out of need, prescient in its thinking, and was able to recently close its latest funding round from investors that include Viola Growth, 83 North, Pitango, Saban Ventures, Planven Investments, and La Maison
How Businesses Should Incorporate Streaming Entertainment in Reopening Strategies
A look at how businesses can transform their TVs from background noise to short-form entertainment that could increase revenue in a Post-COVID-19 world.
Playbook Raises $3M to Help Fitness Instructors Monetize through Remote Workouts
Playbook is a mobile marketplace enabling top fitness instructors to turn their iPhone content into a subscription income. Instructors can create content (workouts, programs, challenges, nutrition, etc) on their terms. Consumers get access to a world of instructors for a single cost. CEO Jeff Krahel shares more about empowering fitness instructors to build their businesses without depending on studios.
SiriusXM Acquires Simplecast to Bolster Podcasting Advertising
Simplecast, the podcast management and analytics platform, has been acquired by SiriusXM, the satellite radio provider and parent company to Pandora. The terms of the transactions were not disclosed. SiriusXM plans to combine Simplecast with AdsWizz, the podcasting monetization platform that Pandora acquired in 2018.
PickUp Raises $1.48M to Bring Interactive Sports Conversations Across Any Medium
The absence of sports has driven fans crazy during the pandemic but as sports resume, PickUp will be there to make sure that fans are engaged. Cofounded by Dan Healy, PickUp is a sports engagement platform that allows fans to create conversations from the content they are consuming on publisher sites and share it around the web.
Facebook Has Acquired GIPHY for $400M to Bring More GIFs to Instagram
Another day, and another NYC Tech exit. The third acquisition this week. Facebook nabs GIPHY in a $400M transaction.