Beringea Invests $4.6M in Whistle Sports

Venture and growth investor Beringea has invested $4.6 million into Whistle Sports, a digital entertainment media company. The investment is part of Whistle Sports' recently-concluded Series C, with Beringea joining leading names in sports broadcasting and digital media in a round worth $27.5 million in total. Other investors in the round include TEGNA, NBC Sports Ventures, Sky, and Emil Capital.

Since launching in 2014, Whistle Sports has grown its audience to more than 300 million subscribers, followers, and fans across all social media platforms - including an audience of more than 45 million in the UK alone - by catering to previously unmet needs of millennial sports fans. Whistle Sports curates and distributes content across social, digital, over-the-top, and television platforms. The formula has brought the company rapid growth, winning more than 2.5 million new users every week. Content delivered by Whistle Sports receives nearly two billion views every month across all platforms.

The announcement follows a year of momentum for Whistle Sports that saw the company secure a range of new content deals and accolades. As well as launching Unseen Hours, a behind-the-scenes look at the training regimes of up-and-coming professional basketball players, the company also benefited from key partnerships with the National Football League, Major League Baseball, NBC Sports, Sky Sports, Verizon go90, and Sinclair Broadcast Group. As a result, Whistle Sports was ranked as the most-followed sports media brand on social media by social media analysis firm Shareable, while continuing to expand its content distribution footprint to digital, over-the-top, and television platforms.

Beringea's investment will support Whistle Sports as it aims to accelerate revenue growth while maintaining the rapid expansion of its user base.

John West, founder and CEO at Whistle Sports, says: 2016 was a hugely successful year for us as we connected fans with the sports they love in new and exciting ways and helped athletes, teams, leagues, and brands develop deeper relationships with those fans. Backed by this new investment, we are excited about building on this success and continuing to grow in 2017 and beyond. In particular, we look forward to further developing our analytics practice to provide brands with the detailed insights they need to better understand and engage with millennial sports fans.

Karen McCormick, partner and chief investment officer at Beringea, says: The way that sport is broadcast and consumed has changed significantly in recent years, becoming more brand-led and interactive. Meanwhile, the way in which consumers interact with their favourite brands continues to evolve, with social and video content increasingly important to building and sustaining relationships. Whistle Sports' passionate and dynamic team operates at the intersection of these two trends, and we are excited to help them drive continued user engagement and revenue growth with this investment alongside some heavy hitters in sports and media.

LINK:	http://www.sportsvideo.org/2017/02/02/beringea-invests-4-6m-in-whistle...
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