Pixellot, a specialist in AI sports video production, announced it has completed a $30 million Series B fundraising round led by Shamrock Capital. Exact terms were not disclosed. Pixellot has now raised more than $40 million since the company’s inception in 2013.
Pixellot’s technology offers an alternative to traditional video capture at a reduced cost. The company includes an unmanned multi-camera system that’s placed on the sideline at the middle of the field in a sporting venue and automatically follows game action. Footage can be saved to the cloud and streamed live on demand to fans, coaches, players, and scouts.
“Our principal objective is to grow the business aggressively,” said Doug Billman, President of Pixellot. “We’re already deeply engaged in the [U.S.] high school space. That’s something we will continue to focus on and accelerate. There are a number of other markets that are important to us—the college space, multi-sport venues, and the broader youth space.”
Pixellot is already used by over 1,000 U.S. high school and youth leagues through the company’s partnership with the National Federation of State High Schools. The company has sold more than 2,500 systems worldwide and produces 20,000 hours of sports content every month. Top soccer clubs in the English Premier league, La Liga, Liga MX, and the Bundesliga all use Pixellot.
Pixellot plans to explore the production of automatic highlights and game recaps as the company’s next step following the fundraising round from Shamrock, which is also a stakeholder in FanDuel. Data extracted from the scoreboard as well as location data tracked from the movement of the players will be a focal point of that automated production process.
“As more data is available, we are in position using data and our own algorithms to create automated highlights of games, clipping games,” Billman said. “Tracking data is something we could derive optically or using data that comes off a chip on the player. That chip can produce location information on the player, as well biometric data like a heartbeat monitor for example.”
SportTechie Takeaway
Pixellot’s system has already reduced production costs, but further automating the process and including data that can be used by scouts and coaches to analyze player performance could make this technology even more valuable to sports leagues and organizations.
Pixellot has already proven capable of negotiating rights deals with professional leagues through deals with major European soccer leagues. Whether the company can partner with the biggest professional sports leagues in North America remains to be seen.