Editor's note: Atlanta Inno has reached out to BIP Capital and PlayOn! Sports for comment. Tampa Bay Inno has reached out to Jeff Vinik for comment. This story will be updated.
PlayOn! Sports, an Atlanta-based high school sports media company, has raised $25 million in a Series B round led by local VC firm BIP Capital. New investors included in the round are Tampa Bay Lightning owner and serial Tampa Bay investor Jeff Vinik, along with Teall Capital and Crossover.
The funding will primarily be used for accelerating the deployment of PlayOn! Sports' Pixellot, an automated production solution, throughout the high school market. The company plans to use some of the investment to also advance consumer products and automated marketing infrastructure.
"This new capital will enable us to grow even faster by doubling the number of schools using automated production within the next 12 months," David Rudolph, founder and CEO of PlayOn, said in a statement.
Vinik's investment history in startups is long-winded. Beyond backing innovation hub Embarc Collective, he's also invested $5 million into health tech company Bridge Connector, $1.25 million into Homee, an on-demand maintenance repair app, digital-based startup Peerfit and a partial $1.25 million to Knack.
PlayOn, founded in 2008, streams live high school sports events in communities across the country. The company operates the NFHS Network, a joint venture with the National Federation of State High School Associations and its member state high school associations. PlayOn's Pixellot solution has aided the NFHS Network's livestreaming and on-demand services.
“We have been partnered with PlayOn! Sports for a number of years," ” BIP Capital Chief Operating Officer Mark Flickinger told Inno. "With their recent momentum, defensible position, and go-to-market strategy, we are excited to help accelerate their growth with this round of capital."
According to PlayOn, there are more than 4,000 Pixellot units in high schools across the United States, streaming 150,000 live games. The NFHS Network livestreams 27 sports and the events are monetized via consumer subscription. To date, subscription revenue has grown by more than 100% year over year.
