UK-based sports media platform Minute Media closed a $15m funding round on Wednesday that included media group ProSiebenSat.1.
Venture capital fund Qumra Capital led the round, while VC firms Battery Ventures and Dawn Capital also contributed.
Founded in 2011 as FTBPro, Minute Media operates two sports media platforms – 90min and 12up – that let fans create and publish written and audiovisual content which is then shared with other users through a curation process.
90min focuses exclusively on football, while 12up is aimed at sports popular in the US and Latin America, such as American football, (college) basketball and baseball. The platforms currently generate more than 20,000 curated pieces from a base of 70 million monthly visitors.
The funding will support Minute Media’s continued expansion efforts in the UK, US, Israel, the Philippines, Brazil, Singapore and Japan ahead of the 2018 Fifa World Cup, including the recruitment of editorial and commercial staff.
The company will also launch additional platforms, including an e-sports focused community that is planned for April 2017.
Minute Media has now secured a total of $60m to date, including a $15m round led by ProSiebenSat.1 in 2015, with participation from Battery Ventures, Dawn Capital and Gemini Israel Ventures. The same three had contributed to a $18m round for the company the year before.
Asaf Peled, founder and chief executive of Minute Media, said: “Between the development of key platforms in advance of the 2018 World Cup, our forthcoming e-sports brand launch, and our core audience growth objectives, we are very excited about 2017 and what is to come.”