Close Venturres has announced a GBP1.5m investment in Opta Sportsdata, a leading European provider of sports data and analysis to media companies.
Close Venturres has announced a GBP1.5m investment in Opta Sportsdata, a leading European provider of sports data and analysis to media companies. The investment will be used to help grow sales in the existing business in the UK and the rest of Europe.
Opta collects and analyses data on live sports events, including football, rugby and cricket. It currently collects match data from 3,000 football matches including all matches in the English Premier League, German Bundeslegia, Italian Seria A, Spanish, French, as well as all Champions Leagues and major internationals. In total, Opta collects statistical data on over 4,000 sporting events every year.
Opta Sportsdata uses leading edge technology to compile team and player performance data for a range of sports and has quickly become a staple for a variety of organisations. These range from broadcasters using the data to develop innovative television graphics solutions, to coaches using the information to monitor and compare team and player performances from week to week.
Customers include: Yahoo, Tiscali, BSkyB, Setanta, Telecom Italia, 3, EIDOS and Sporting Index.
In the information age, Opta data has become business critical to both media and sports professionals alike who rely on the information and analysis that Opta provides to stay ahead of the competition.
The deal was completed by David Gudgin and Michael Kaplan of Close Ventures. Kaplan says: ‘The sports data market is well established in the US but is still fragmented and fast growing in Europe. As competition among European broadcasters grows, we expect this upward climb to continue. Opta is well positioned to benefit from this growth as it has developed a scalable infrastructure, established a strong European market presence and put together an experienced and well rounded management team.’
Aidan Cooney, managing director, Opta comments: ‘We selected Close Ventures because they have an excellent track record, and their integrated finance approach simplified the investment process. We are excited about working with Close and believe they can help bring Opta to the next level of success.’
