AAA Whistle Sports wins $28m

Whistle Sports wins $28m

US-based sports media platform Whistle Sports has secured $28m in a series D round featuring mass media company Liberty Media and Emil Capital, a subsidiary of retail group Tengelmann.

Aser Capital, the merchant banking division of investment group Aser, led the round, which included technology and media holding company WndrCo and unnamed additional investors.

Whistle runs a sport-focused digital media platform spanning text and video content it claims has reached an aggregate audience of some 450 million across social media. It intends to use the series D cash to expand its content partnerships.

The company also plans to collaborate with Eleven Sports, the subscription-based sports entertainment provider launched by Aser in 2015. Eleven is present in 10 countries including the US, the UK, Belgium, Italy, Poland, Singapore and Taiwan.

Whistle Sports’ founder and CEO, John West, said: “We are looking forward to partnering with their invaluable global network and the key relationships they possess in important markets in Asia, Europe and around the world as we look to expand the Whistle Sports footprint.

“Today’s young sports fans have global interests, and with Aser we can reach and engage them in new and exciting ways.”

The round took Whistle’s overall funding to approximately $93m, $28m of which came in a 2015 series B round featuring Emil Capital, Liberty Media owner Liberty Global, media company Sky and sportspeople Derek Jeter and Peyton Manning.

The company subsequently closed a $27.5m series C round in January 2017, having raised capital from Emil Capital, Sky, media company Tegna, growth equity firm Beringea and NBC Sports Ventures, a corporate venture capital subsidiary of media provider NBC Universal.

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