Participated · Series C · Jun 2019

FloSports operates a direct-to-consumer live sports streaming service that launched in 2009 and concentrates on marginalized sports not regularly covered in traditional media. The platform has expanded to cover more than 20 sports, including track and field, wrestling, soccer, basketball, volleyball, rodeo and others. FloSports says it tapped into fans' passion for the sports they play and has inked or extended at least 250 media rights deals in the prior year to boost availability and create content about key matches and athletes. The company recently signed a four-year, seven-figure partnership with the Colonial Athletic Association to cover the league's 22 sports. Management says it will use the new funding to broaden existing coverage and expand into new verticals to further enrich underserved sports communities. Operating metrics reported include subscriber numbers and annual recurring revenue both growing by more than 50% year over year, with net subscriber growth through Q1 2019 exceeding all subscriber growth in 2018. FloSports is a direct-to-consumer, subscription-based sports media company that livestreams premier events, produces original programming, and runs weekly studio shows. It operates a network of 14 dedicated verticals including wrestling, track, grappling, MMA, elite fitness, boxing, fastpitch softball, gymnastics, basketball, tennis, volleyball, cheerleading and eSports. This year the company launched four new sites — FloVolleyball, FloCombat, FloTennis and FloKO — and in recent months has livestreamed events such as the PGF National Championships, the World Jiu-Jitsu IBJJF Championship, Pan-American competitions and The Cheerleading Worlds. FloSports positions itself as a direct monetization partner for leagues, governing bodies and independent rights holders to help them monetize events and reach fans. The company says this approach allows it to serve millions of sports fans and to grow sports, athletes, events and communities. FloSports is based in Austin, Texas. Flocasts is an Austin, TX–based sports media property and events company co-founded in 2006 by Martin and Mark Floreani and Madhu Venkatesan. The company focuses on four primary verticals — Flotrack, Gymnastike, Flowrestling and the newly launched Floelite — that provide fans with live streaming of top events, original weekly web series, workouts and insider doc-series. It also creates and operates owned live events, including the Beer Mile World Championship, Who’s #1 wrestling competition and The Premiere League professional wrestling league. The company received $8M in funding from Causeway Media Partners. Flocasts intends to use the funds to expand and grow operations.

Participated · Series A · Oct 2017

Cloud9 is an esports firm that operates an esports league and fields professional teams. The company runs teams including the London Spitfire and the British Hurricane. In October 2018 Cloud9 raised $50M in a Series B funding round. The round was led by Valor Equity Partners, with participation from TrueBridge Capital Partners, Reimagined Ventures and Glassdoor founder Robert Hohman. Valor Equity Partners will add partner Antonio Gracias to Cloud9's board, and the company has set up a permanent headquarters in Los Angeles. Cloud9 was founded in 2013 by Jack and Paullie Etienne. Cloud9 is an esports organization that competes in League of Legends, Call of Duty, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Hearthstone and other leagues. The company announced a $25M Series A to support its esports efforts. The funding included WWE, The Beverly Hills Sports Council, Raul Fernandez (Monumental Sports & Entertainment), Michael Ovitz (CAA), Founders Fund, David Sacks and Bill Lee. Cloud9’s offices are in Los Angeles, and the company says its teams, players and personalities are located across North America, Europe and Asia. The article frames the raise as financing for its competitive and organizational efforts in esports. The article does not disclose revenue or user metrics.

Participated · Series B · Jun 2017

Drone Racing League (founded in 2015) organizes and broadcasts competitive drone races and is the most established player in amateur and professional drone racing. The league secured a $20M Series B to support its growth ahead of its 2017 season. Last season over 75 million fans tuned in via online and TV broadcasts through partners like ESPN, and DRL now airs in over 75 countries (up from 40). Broadcast partners include ESPN, SKY Sports and DisneyXD, and races are filmed live-to-tape to enable strategic scheduling across time zones. CEO Nicholas Horbaczewski said the round was driven by a desire to work strategically with investors, suggesting future collaborations around sports entertainment and broadcasting. DRL is prepared to shift to live broadcasts when the sport gains sufficient momentum. DRL organizes and broadcasts elite FPV drone races using custom-designed, hand-built identical drones and proprietary broadcast and race infrastructure to capture high-speed, close-proximity racing. The company positions itself as a sports-and-media franchise, combining world-class pilot skill and technology to create mass-appeal racing content. DRL secured a strategic investment and distribution partnership with Sky to bring live events and broadcast content to the UK and Ireland via Sky Sports Mix. The 2016 season was packaged as ten one-hour episodes covering five races and a winner-take-all World Championship, with broadcasts beginning in October 2016. DRL has also signed multi-year international event and distribution partnerships with ESPN and 7Sports and a global media production partnership with MGM Studios to develop unscripted shows and additional scripted and new-format content. DRL and Sky are partnering with London & Partners to stage the first professional drone race in the UK at an iconic London venue. The company was founded in 2015, is headquartered in New York City, and is a privately held entity; notes to editors state gross assets subject to the transaction were $1M and profits attributable to those assets were nil.

Participated · Series F · Nov 2016

Phunware provides a Multiscreen-as-a-Service (MaaS) suite of products, solutions and data that enables brands to create and monetize mobile experiences across retail, media and entertainment, healthcare, airports, residential and shopping centers. Launched in 2009 by Chairman and CEO Alan S. Knitowski and based in Austin, Texas, the company offers tools to engage, manage and monetize users worldwide. The company completed a $22m second close of its Series F financing, bringing total Series F raised to date to $40m, with the balance expected to close during the current quarter. Phunware has raised $90m in total since inception. The company said it will use the new funds to continue to expand operations globally. The suite combines products, solutions and data intended for brands and enterprise customers. Phunware offers an integrated services platform that enables brands to add multiscreen application support for content management, location-based services, advertising, alerts and notifications, and business intelligence. The platform supports more than 1 trillion annual transactions across nearly 190 countries and 10 languages. Its customer roster includes E! Entertainment Television, NBC Sports, WWE, NASCAR, CBS, Qualcomm, Edmunds, Jawbone, HomeAway, Turner, UHealth, Transamerica, King, Warner Brothers, AT&T and Adobe. The company was founded in 2009 and is based in Austin, TX. As of the Series E close, Phunware has raised $48.25M in total capital. The recent funding round included a strategic investment from Samsung Venture Investment Corporation.

Participated · Series C · Oct 2016

Tout is a next-generation streaming video network delivering hundreds of channels of news, sports and entertainment video from major media brands across thousands of publisher sites. Led by founder and CEO Michael Downing, the company is a technology spin-out of SRI International and is headquartered in San Francisco, CA. Tout powers video programming across more than 2,800 websites that collectively receive over one billion visits monthly. Its network reaches more than 57 million unique video viewers who consume over 350 million videos per month. Tout aggregates content from partners including Fox Sports, WSJ, CNN, CBS, Scripps, Conde Nast and Bloomberg. The company plans to use new funding to expand business-development and sales operations, grow its U.S. publisher base, launch audience-targeting capabilities for media partners, and expand into international markets. Tout is a video-messaging service that lets users post 15-second video messages and allows followers to reply with their own 15-second videos. The company has gained traction with high-profile users and media partners, including Shaquille O'Neal, Jeff Probst, Ryan Seacrest, Erin Andrews, Dr. Oz, CBS, National Geographic Channel, CNBC's Fast Money, C-SPAN, ESPN and Mitt Romney. Tout reports more than 23 million total visitors to its web and mobile applications since launch (a cumulative figure). CEO Michael Downing has said the company does not aim to be a destination social network but to enable video messaging broadly. Tout has been testing an API and teasing "major partners" in the works, indicating a focus on integrations and distribution. The company previously raised a $2 million Series A in December 2010 and has now closed a $13.4 million Series B.