Minute Media, a sports-focused media holding company backed by BlackRock and Goldman Sachs, has acquired VideoVerse, an Indian AI startup that specializes in extracting highlights and creating content from sports footage. The acquisition, announced on Monday, is considered the largest for Minute Media in terms of value and size. VideoVerse, founded in 2016 by Vinayak Shrivastav, Saket Dandotia, and Alok Patil, has raised $105 million to date from investors such as Bluestone Equity Partners, A91 Partners, Alpha Wave, Evolvence India, and Moneta Ventures.
While the exact valuation of the acquisition remains undisclosed, sources indicate that VideoVerse was valued between $200 million and $250 million during its last funding round in 2023. The Mumbai-based startup initially developed various AI tools, including those for detecting smoking and drinking scenes in movies, and object identification for e-commerce sites. However, in 2016, VideoVerse shifted its focus to building video editing and detection tools for sports broadcasters, starting with a project for Hotstar (now owned by Jio) to identify specific action points in cricket.
Minute Media’s strategic growth moves
VideoVerse operates as a SaaS tool, charging based on the number of footage hours processed. The company has grown to $65 million in revenue with a healthy EBITDA margin of 35% to 40%.
Recently, VideoVerse launched new AI-powered tools that allow clients to automatically generate content by defining rules, such as creating a package of all three-pointers made by a specific basketball player for social media publication. Minute Media plans to leverage VideoVerse’s technology along with its own publisher network, which includes properties like Sports Illustrated, The Players’ Tribune, and 90 Minutes, to distribute content more effectively and generate ad revenue. The sports media company reaches over 200 million monthly users and offers a B2B platform used by nearly 500 publishers.
Asaf Peled, CEO of Minute Media, stated, “With VideoVerse, we can pitch an AI suite for content creation to our customers, then add our distribution and monetization capabilities to get more value out of the content.”
The acquisition will enable Minute Media to attract more U.S.-based leagues to its highlight-generating platform, responding to a market shift where fans seek diverse content beyond traditional coverage, especially on mobile devices. Peled added that although the company is not actively seeking funding now, it may pursue further funding rounds in the coming quarters for additional acquisitions.
