BlackRock-Backed Minute Media Buys $250M Indian AI Startup That Turns Sports Into Instant Viral Content – BlackRock (NYSE:BLK), Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS)

Media startup Minute Media, backed by BlackRock BLK and Goldman Sachs GS is betting big on that trend with its Sept. 9 acquisition of VideoVerse, an Indian AI company valued between $200 million and $250 million.

The deal gives Minute Media, owner of sports content brands The Players’ Tribune, Sports Illustrated, and 90 Minutes, access to technology that automatically extracts highlights and builds content packages from live sports footage.

According to TechCrunch, VideoVerse’s platform already works with the Indian Premier League, Women’s Premier League Cricket, FIFA+, Nippon TV, and Cubber TV.

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How VideoVerse Went From Film Tools to AI Sports Highlights

Founded in Mumbai in 2016 by Vinayak Shrivastav, VideoVerse initially built AI tools for industries outside sports. One early product flagged smoking and drinking scenes for India’s film certification board, while another identified objects for e-commerce platforms.

Shrivastav said that the turning point came in 2016 when Hotstar, now owned by Jio, sought solutions to detect action points in cricket matches. “In 2016, Hotstar [which is now owned by Jio] was growing, and they were looking for a solution that could identify certain action points in sports and primarily in cricket,” Shrivastav told TechCrunch.

Over time, the company abandoned its other projects and focused entirely on AI tools for sports broadcasters. VideoVerse now operates as a software-as-a-service platform, charging clients based on the hours of footage processed.

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The company has grown to $65 million in revenue with earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization margins between 35% and 40%, according to TechCrunch.

AI Tools Powering the Next Phase of Global Sports Media

VideoVerse Chief Strategy Officer Prateek Sharma told TechCrunch that the company has launched new AI tools that enable clients to define custom highlight rules. For example, a broadcaster can create automated clips of every three-pointer made by a specific player in a basketball game and instantly publish them to social media, TechCrunch reported. 

The platform also added AI-powered translation features to help leagues and broadcasters expand global fan engagement. While some processes incorporate third-party models, Sharma said VideoVerse relies on its proprietary model to identify the most important moments in matches.

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Why Minute Media Wants VideoVerse’s AI Technology

Minute Media CEO Asaf Peled told TechCrunch that the acquisition is the largest in the company’s history in terms of both size and value. Minute Media has raised $260 million, reaches more than 200 million monthly users, and supports nearly 500 publishers through its business-to-business content distribution platform.

“With the VideoVerse acquisition, we can go to customers and pitch the AI suite, which is helpful for content creation. Then we can add our distribution and monetization capabilities on top of it to get more value out of the content,” Peled said.

Peled added that the company wants to target U.S.-based leagues with VideoVerse’s tools to meet rising demand for highlight-driven mobile sports coverage. Reports, like an IBM study, indicate that sports fans are consuming games differently.

While the company is not currently raising capital, Peled said it may look to secure additional funding in the coming quarters to pursue further acquisitions.

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