Eyal Ofer Leads WSC Sports' $23 Million Funding Round

Israel-based WSC Sports Technologies Ltd. has raised a $23 million funding round, the company announced Thursday. O.G. Tech Partners, the tech investment arm of Israeli-born business magnate Eyal Ofer, led the round, which brought WSC Sports’ total funding raised to date to $39 million.

Other investors included NTT Docomo Ventures Inc., the venture capital arm of the Tokyo-listed telecommunications company NTT Docomo Inc., the Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainments (HBSE) investment fund that owns the New Jersey Devils NHL team, Luxembourg-based co-investment fund Maor Investments, investment firm The Israel Secondary Fund (ISF), and Go4it Capital. WSC Sport’s video technology analyzes sports broadcasts in real-time, using artificial intelligence and machine learning to identify the various components of each game and generate customized video highlights of every player and team. The company lists the NBA, American Major League Soccer, and Cricket Australia as customers. In 2018, WSC Sports analyzed more than 17,000 sports events around the world and produced more than 850,000 videos for its customers, the company said.

WSC Sports will use the funds to expand the company's service to new sports, as well as to double its workforce, Daniel Shichman, the company’s CEO and co-founder, said in a Wednesday interview with Calcalist. The company currently employs 104 people, most of them in Israel, with additional offices in the U.S. and Australia, Shichman said.

In June, WSC Sports announced that Former NBA commissioner and American businessman David Stern, and John Kosner, former vice president of digital media at ESPN, will serve as advisors to the company.