🔊 NBA Makes An Investment In Leading AI Sports Startup

📰 TOP STORY
NBA Takes An Equity Stake In AI Sports Startup

• The NBA invests in AI analytics firm nVenue. The NBA has invested in predictive analytics company nVenue through its venture vehicle, NBA Equity, with the league’s Head of Gaming and New Business Ventures, Scott Kaufman-Ross, joining as a board observer for the AI-powered startup (more here).

💰 MONEY MOVES 
Sportstech Startups Receive More Funding

• FutConnect secures $12 million in Series A funding. Spearheading this strategic raise is The Kicher Group. This infusion of funds, along with existing support from angel investors and venture capitalists in the technology and entertainment sectors, propels FutConnect toward an unprecedented launch to transform the global football fan experience (more here).

• Ladder raises $12 million Series A to demystify strength training and accelerate growth. Led by Tapestry VC and LivWell Ventures, the funding comes on the back of explosive growth this year, with Ladder expected to reach 500% growth in its membership, now with more than 50,000 paying members (more here).

• Authentication startup Dust Identity raises $40 million to get into sports. Dust Identity Inc., a startup that authenticates products by marking them with invisible diamond dust, is raising $40 million in funding to enter new markets including sports memorabilia, luxury goods, and art (more here).

• FTN Network closes seed funding round, oversubscribing goal of $3 million. FTN Network announced today that it has closed its seed funding round, oversubscribing its goal of $3 million in just two months from a group of private investors, led by investor Perry Gershon and a TechStars investment fund (more here).

• GameOn Technology changes its name to On as it raises $25 million. The strategic funding round, which brings On’s total raised funds to $80 million, attracted notable participants including Equiam, B3 Capital, Commonwealth Financial Network, and Mirae Asset Venture Investment (more here).

• African-Born Sportable completes first close of $15 million Series A funding. Founded by two South Africans in 2016, Sportable deploys Micro-Tracking (MT) technology to enhance data collection and analysis in ball and contact sports, particularly rugby, soccer, and American football (more here).

• Sports streamer DAZN explores raising as much as $1 billion. The streaming platform backed by billionaire Len Blavatnik, is exploring ways to raise fresh funding as it seeks to accelerate its global expansion, people familiar with the matter said (more here).

 🤝 PARTNERSHIPS & COLLABS
Cricket South Africa (CSA) Teams Up With LootMogul To Bring Tech To The Game

• CSA and LootMogul launch tech revolution in cricket experience. The CSA-LootMogul partnership will use technological advancements to bring a new dimension to cricket. Digital twins of South African stadiums will provide fans with a virtual yet realistic experience of being in the heart of cricket action (more here).

• Reebok is partnering with Futureverse in an AI-metaverse deal. The deal aims to expand the sneaker brand’s consumer experiences and customer interactions with its footwear and apparel. Futureverse will drive that effort, and the first project to be introduced under this collaboration is an initiative set for 2024 dubbed “Reebok Impact” (more here).

• Cricket Australia partners with Toyota and HCLTech. Cricket Australia has upgraded its partnerships with Toyota and HCLTech, with both securing branding on the Australian national teams’ playing shirts for the 2023/24 season (more here).

• MeetKai and Meta-Stadiums launch FIFA Sports Metaverse. MeetKai, a pioneer in the events metaverse space, teamed up with entertainment, gaming, and NFT metaverse platform Meta-Stadiums to launch a world-first football experience. The platform also leverages virtual worlds to attend football matches as avatars to watch professional clubs and FIFA teams compete (more here).

• Stats Perform holds onto the WTA Tour betting rights contract. Stats Perform has retained one of its heavyweight betting data and video rights contracts in an exclusive long-term renewal with tennis’ WTA Tour unveiled today (more here).

🔊 OTHER HYPE
Pro Teams Are Building Venture Capital Arms And Broadening Their Investments

• Deep dive: The growing world of sports teams as VCs. A small but growing number of pro sports teams are turning their attention from playbooks to pitchbooks (more here).

• Authentic Files Trademarks for AI Products ‘ASK SHAQ’ and ‘SHAQ AI’. An artificial intelligence product associated with Shaquille O'Neal's licensing group, Authentic, was revealed through two trademark filings. The project, known as "ASK SHAQ" and "SHAQ AI," is believed to involve an A.I. chatbot or similar technology that would provide sports and entertainment-related information (more here).

• Flutter CEO on the Business of Sports Betting. Peter Jackson, CEO of Flutter discusses the burgeoning business of sports betting (more here).

• Orreco’s FitrWoman launches a coaching platform to drive female performance. FitrCoach adds features such as cycle tracking for diverse menstrual cycles and hormonal contraceptive use, dynamic content experiences informed by cycle status and symptom logging, and improved data visualization tools (more here).

• The German VR ‘flight simulator’ behind LSU QB Jayden Daniels’ Heisman-caliber 2023 season. LSU football’s use of virtual reality has enhanced quarterback training, specifically with Heisman contender Jayden Daniels (more here).

• Senior Executives at 'Sports Illustrated' publishing house are out of a job following AI article controversy. COO Andrew Kraft and president Rob Barrett were fired from their roles, a representative for The Arena Group's majority owner Manoj Bhargava, the billionaire founder of 5-Hour Energy, confirmed to Futurism. Arena Group's CEO, Ross Levinsohn, will stay in his position (more here).

• Dimers launches new B2B sports betting service. Dimers, a leading sports betting predictive modeling industry player, announced Dimers for Business. Tailored for various businesses, Dimers for Business provides a seamless way for sports media publishers and operators to boost their revenue and audience engagement through sports betting (more here).