Things seem to become turbocharged at Israel´s crowdfunding plattform OurCrowd these days. Only last week, one of OurCrowd´s portfolio investments, Replay technologies announced that it had raised $13.5 million in a financing round led by Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners (DTCP). The company has raised $27 million to date and other investors include Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, Samsung Ventures, and OurCrowd. Now the company got aquired by Intel for an estimated $175 million. Intel said of the acquisition, “we’re just getting started”.
Based in Ramat Hahayil in Tel Aviv, Replay Technologies was founded in 2011 by CEO Oren Yogev, CTO Mateo Shapira and COO Aviv Shapira. The company has 100 employees according to IVC. Replay Technologies has developed multi-dimensional video imaging technologies. The Tel Aviv-based company has already introduced Free Dimensional Video (FreeDTM), which allows viewers to see and experience real-life scenes through immersive camera views from multiple angles. Replay Technologies is exploiting the potential growth of virtual reality and augmented reality, and supports a service that encourages viewers to ‚jump‘ into live events and experience them from any perspective.
The NBA All-Star Weekend experience showcased “free dimensional” or freeD™ video from Replay Technologies, optimized for 6th Generation Intel® Core™ processors and Intel server technology. The freeD technology created a seamless 3-D video rendering of the court using 28 ultrahigh-definition cameras positioned around the arena and connected to Intel-based servers. This system allowed broadcasters to give fans a 360-degree view of key plays.
Now, Intel is taking the next step in its collaboration with Replay Technologies, stating that:
Together, we will scale this new category for sports entertainment that we call immersive sports, which is attracting the attention of leagues, venues, broadcasters and fans. Immersive sports requires the high-performance computing Intel is known for, and it’s also data driven – fueling the continued build out of the cloud.
For athletes, coaches, broadcasters and fans, the ability to capture, analyze and share data adds compelling new dimensions to the game.
Replay Technologies raised capital on OurCrowd in late 2015. The equity crowdfunding round closed fully funded at over $2.2 million. Co-founded by Oren Yogev, Matteo Shapira and Aviv Shapira, Replay Technologies has established relationships with a multitude of major sports brands like the NFL, NBA, MLB and more.
As part of Intel, the team will focus on growing their existing business and advancing their technology with Intel to deliver faster freeD processing and new features like the ability to manipulate and edit personalized content. Technology now plays an unprecedented role in sports.
Let´s get some interesting insights from OurCrow´s CEO and mastermind Jon Medved. The Jerusalem based CrowdFunding site is catering to accredited investors only. He defines his offering for investment crowdfunding as Kickstarter for real investors. Medved describes Israel as the worlds incubator and recent numbers tend to support his claim.