NBA invests in Videocites as part of a $10M Series B funding led by Velocity Capital Management

The National Basketball Association (NBA) has partnered with AI-based video-tracking startup Videocites as it looks to take more ownership stakes in businesses that could benefit the league in a private equity push.

Videocites, which tracks clips across social media and social footprint created by fans, announced the NBA has closed its $10 million  Series B funding round led by Velocity Capital Management, with participation from Series A investor Infront Sports & Media AG.

Videocites said it will use the new cash infusion to grow its global presence and recruit leading sales and business development professionals to expand its unique offerings to brands and content owners in the United States and Europe.

As part of the deal, Videocites will provide the league with more data and new tools to identify and leverage new revenue streams generated by fan-generated content and also enables it to use its technology to track how the NBA’s content is being used by fans on social media. The NBA has already been using Videocities to reach new and previously unidentified audiences, providing the NBA with greater insights into its global reach and brand exposure across social media.

Founded in 2014 by Aviad Louzon, Eyal Arad, Michael Bronstein, and Ze’ev Ganor, the Israeli tech startup initially introduced a collection of novel AI-based SaaS products for Video tracking and handling throughout the web and huge archives. Today,  Videocites provides a groundbreaking analytics solution that reveals the true social impact created by fans and partners on social media, allowing the NBA to gain a greater understanding of how their brand is seen across the web.

While user-generated content (UGC) has a significant influence on a brand’s perception and popularity across social media, it’s challenging to identify and categorize at scale. Nevertheless, as it continues to grow exponentially, it’s crucial to measure fan content. Videocites has perfected its AI-generated identification capabilities and video-fingerprinting technology to recognize and analyze UGC and trademarked assets related to the brand. Its award-winning technology reveals fans’ engagement through video identifiers and contextual search.

“We’re excited to collaborate with Videocites to better understand how user-generated content resonates with our fans,” said David Lee, Head of NBA Equity. “This partnership and our investment in Videocites reflect our commitment to continue to grow and embrace our fans across the ever-evolving global social media landscape.”

“Aggregating and analyzing real-time UGC and brand video data in one dashboard allows our clients to keep their finger on the pulse of their fanbase and partners,” said Eyal Arad, Videocites’ Co-Founder, and CEO. “It’s no secret that today’s user habits across social media have a significant impact on shaping public perception of any organization. We are turning that ‘perception’ into quantifiable data.”

Velocity is a sports, media, and entertainment domain-focused private equity firm founded in 2021 by David Abrams and Arne Rees. “We believe that Videocites can become the industry standard for tracking and measuring intellectual property across social media. Videocites’ technology greatly enhances monetization opportunities for rightsholders and creates a platform for streamlined direct-to-consumer engagement,” said Velocity Managing Partner David Abrams.