Minute Media Acquires AI-Powered Video Editing Startup VideoVerse

Minute Media acquires video editing software startup VideoVerse - The Economic Times

Through this acquisition, Minute Media plans to roll out a fully integrated solution for content creation, distribution, and monetisation, further deepening its partnership with top teams, leagues, and federations globally. The Flipkart cofounder Binny Bansal-backed company last raised $45 million from Bluestone Equity Partners in December 2023.Minute Media, a global sports publishing and ad technology platform, has acquired Alpha Wave Global-backed video editing software startup VideoVerse, the company said on Tuesday. With this acquisition, Minute Media plans to deploy a fully integrated solution for content creation, distribution, and monetisation, strengthening its partnership with top teams, leagues, and federations globally. The firm did not disclose the financial details of the deal. VideoVerse's existing clients will get access to Minute Media's distribution and monetisation solutions, helping them improve returns on their video assets, it said. The company serves more than 450 customers worldwide, including FIFA+, Indian Super League, Pro Panja League, Willow TV, Portuguese Football Federation, and TV2, among others. It is backed by the likes of Moneta Ventures, Bluestone Equity Partners, and Evolvence. Founded in 2016, VideoVerse helps content owners and rights holders automatically detect key moments, create real-time highlights, and distribute short-form video content. It currently operates in the US, Europe, and the APAC region. The Flipkart cofounder Binny Bansal-backed company last raised $45 million from Bluestone Equity Partners in December 2023. According to the company, both VideoVerse and Minute Media will further strengthen and expand their AI footprint in India through continued investment, with a focus on advancing next-generation AI video capabilities. "In addition, with VideoVerse's technologies, Minute Media's owned and operated brands, partners, and clients will experience and have the best in AI-powered creation," said Asaf Peled, founder and chief executive of Minute Media. Minute Media's proprietary tech platform enables the creation, distribution, and monetisation of digital content experiences. It owns and operates sports content brands, including The Players' Tribune, FanSided, and 90min, and serves as the publisher of Sports Illustrated and Sports Illustrated Swimsuit across digital and print platforms. It has grown to 200 million monthly users and supports over 1,500 content creators and more than 400 distribution partners across 14 global markets.

Minute Media acquires VideoVerse, investor Audacity Venture Capital makes $50 million exit | Marketing | Campaign India

The acquisition reflects the sports content company's intent to broaden its AI footprint in India, and invest in next-generation video capabilities. Minute Media, a global technology and sports content company, has acquired Indian artificial intelligence (AI) firm VideoVerse. The deal brings together a sports publishing business with an AI-powered video solutions provider, underscoring the growing commercial appetite for short-form sports highlights and automated content creation. VideoVerse's flagship platform, Magnifi, uses AI to automatically detect key moments in live events, create highlights, and distribute them across digital channels. The technology combines computer vision, natural language processing and machine learning to analyse both visual and audio cues. It also incorporates generative AI tools such as multilingual subtitling, metadata generation, thumbnail creation and a rules-based automation engine. Minute Media said the acquisition would allow it to offer a "fully integrated creation, distribution and monetisation solution" to rights holders, teams and federations globally. "We are thrilled to bring the passionate teams and robust capabilities of VideoVerse into the Minute Media family to bring teams and leagues a full-stack solution from creation to distribution to monetisation," said Asaf Peled, founder and CEO of Minute Media. "In addition, with VideoVerse's technologies, Minute Media's owned and operated brands, partners, and clients will experience and have the very best in AI-powered creation." Investor exits The deal has triggered significant outcomes for investors. Audacity Venture Capital, one of VideoVerse's largest institutional backers, announced a $50 million exit. According to the firm, it first invested when the company was valued at just $5 million. The acquisition represents Audacity's first exit and, by its account, the largest media-tech exit in India. "As a sector-specific, stage-agnostic fund, our strategy is to create alpha by identifying undervalued opportunities early and then continuing to invest through multiple stages of growth," said Kabir Kochhar, founding partner, Audacity Venture Capital. "VideoVerse exemplifies this conviction-led approach. We backed them at the earliest stage, believed in their vision, and supported them as they scaled into a global leader in AI-powered sports content solutions. This exit is not just a fund milestone; it's a validation of our thesis that media-tech offers outsized opportunities for investors who understand the space deeply and lays a strong foundation for our next fund." Other early investors in the company include A91 Partners, Baring Private Equity Partners, Venture East, Moneta Ventures, Alpha Wave Global, Bluestone Equity Partners and Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal. Dr. Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, MD of 9Unicorns, another early backer, described the deal as "one of the biggest SaaS exits in India till date and top 5 global sports tech exits." The acquisition reflects Minute Media's intent to broaden its AI footprint in India, with the company signalling further investment in next-generation video capabilities. VideoVerse, founded by Vinayak Shrivastav, has positioned itself as a specialist in automating content workflows for sports rights holders and publishers. Its technology is used across media platforms to help content teams deliver clips in near real-time, a capability increasingly valuable in an environment where live moments need to be packaged instantly for fans. Shrivastav, co-founder and CEO of VideoVerse, credited investors for their support in building the company. "From the very beginning, Audacity recognised our vision and the disruptive power of AI in media. They have been more than investors, serving as true partners who guided us, pushed us to think bigger, and supported us with both capital and conviction at every step. Their unwavering belief has played a pivotal role in shaping VideoVerse into what it is today," he said. For Minute Media, which owns publishing brands such as Sports Illustrated and The Players' Tribune, the acquisition provides additional capabilities for both its owned platforms and its partner distribution network, STN Video. The company said VideoVerse's AI would strengthen product offerings for leagues, federations and publishers, while also enabling new content formats. For rights holders, the integration of Magnifi into a broader suite of publishing and monetisation tools suggests a growing industry shift: technology firms are increasingly moving to bundle creation, distribution and commercialisation into one package. This model reduces dependency on multiple vendors and potentially increases speed to market -- though it also raises questions about consolidation and control within the sports content ecosystem. Playing ball with fans' moves Minute Media's announcement reflects broader pressures on media companies to serve fans with short, fast, and personalised content. As leagues and brands grapple with fragmented consumption patterns and dwindling attention spans, the ability to clip and distribute highlights within seconds is becoming less of a competitive advantage and more of a necessity. AI is being positioned as the engine to deliver this efficiency at scale. With the deal, Minute Media joins a growing list of international players seeking to anchor technology operations in India, tapping both talent and market potential. The partnership is also a reminder of how sports broadcasting is evolving from long-form linear consumption to a real-time, multi-platform model shaped by algorithmic decision-making. For investors, the exit strengthens confidence in India's media-tech sector, which has often lagged behind fintech and SaaS in drawing global attention. Whether the deal sets off a wave of similar consolidations remains to be seen, but it illustrates the rising commercial stakes of AI in sports and media.