If you're watching the World Cup and interacting with official soccer-related websites, social media pages or apps, you might be chatting with a bot, as well.
San Francisco-based GameOn Technology Inc. partners with FIFA and other sports franchises which use the company's chatbot tools to engage with fans online.
And on Tuesday, GameOn announced $35 million in new funding which it raised in a Series B round led by Mirae Asset Venture Investment, Mighty Capital and B3 Capital, bringing its total funding to around $54 million, the company said. Milwaukee Brewers owner Mark Attanasio also invested in the round, as well as the owners of the Minnesota Vikings, Quest Venture Partners, Great Point Ventures and Silver Lake founding partner Jim Davidson.
Other investors who have previously backed GameOn include San Francisco 49er quarterback Joe Montana, Snoop Dogg and current and former NBA players like Andre Iguodala and Gary Payton.
“We’re excited not only to continue to scale up our foothold in the sports industry but also increase our reach and influence over the chat space as a whole,” co-founder and CEO Alex Beckman said in a statement. "GameOn has unlocked the chat experience and turned it into an offensive, revenue-generating machine for a wide variety of teams and industries to develop a deeper and more substantial relationship with their consumers ”
In addition to FIFA, the company says it partners with major sports franchises such as the NBA, NFL NHL and PGA Tour.
While the company focused on sports in its early days, it has since expanded into esports, gaming and other industries. Its website boasts partnerships with Live Nation, Rock the Vote, Travel+Leisure, Real Simple and Red Bull Media House.
Beckman founded GameOn in 2014 with COO Nate Simmons and CPO Kalin Stanojev.
