New partnership to join growing Infront Lab portfolio
Zug, Switzerland – Infront, a Wanda Sports Group company, has acquired a stake in Videocites, an AI-based video tracking and analytics company and will look to introduce the company's technology and services to current and future rights partners. This includes content protection, media monitoring and content management.
The investment was led by Infront Lab, a new unit within the group which explores opportunities for intelligent solutions to challenges facing clients and partners in an agile and efficient manner.
Videocites' unique fingerprinting technology uses visual properties within videos in order to immediately track all copies of live, on-demand and promotional content across all channels. This gives content owners deeper insight into consumer behaviour than traditional analytics, helping them to better understand their audience and influencers.
Moreover, the tool provides more detailed information on earned media value, a valuable indicator for sponsors to see the impact of their sponsorship. It also identifies pirate streams of on-demand and sports events, removing them immediately and substantially reducing the number of illegal broadcasts and lost views.
Christian Müller, Infront Senior Vice President People, Innovation & Corporate Services said: "Videocites' technology can help gather intelligence for our partners whilst also protecting their content, solving two common issues currently facing the industry. This investment is a continuation of Infront Lab's work with some of the world's most exciting technology start-ups which has provided huge benefits to our clients."
Eyal Arad, Videocites CEO said: “Videocites’ unique advantage comes from our Video-AI search engine that scales to any number of videos to track all copies immediately. It is immune to all existing video manipulations and is used to offer high-end content protection, true viewership and fan engagement metrics across numerous channels. The partnership with Infront Lab will allow us to introduce our technology and services to some of the world's top sports properties, assuring rapid market penetration and significant growth.“
Videocites are one of three start-ups which will feature at Infront's SPOBIS Masterclass "Navigating the Digital Jungle" on 29 January.
