Sports Fandom = Community
Where were you when Naomi Osaka won her first Grand Slam at the 2018 US Open? Who was going off in your group chat when Patrick Mahomes won the Chiefs their Super Bowl in his third year? Did you catch LaMelo Ball’s career high in points in the upset victory against the Bucks this season? Or Michael Jordan’s game winning shot in Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals over the Utah Jazz? It’s the ephemeral, unbelievable live moments across all sports such as these that bring people together in awe of human excellence and unparalleled teamwork. It’s live moments like this that build community and fandom. And it’s moments like these that our latest round of investors, including Naomi Osaka, LaMelo Ball, Michael Jordan, and Patrick Mahomes, want to help us capture and and share live and in real-time with the next generation of mobile-first sports fans.
Just over a year ago, Bo Han, Buzzer’s CEO and founder raised a $4M seed round led by Sapphire Sport and Lerer Hippeau. Bo had recently left Twitter, where he led Live Sports for seven years, to build a technology platform that gives sports media rights holders the ability to further monetize existing rights by engaging with a net new, younger audience through live moments.
But… how?
This is Buzzer.
With the vision and funding in hand, we set off to achieve our mission. We equitably and thoughtfully built a 45+ person team connected through gratitude, and we celebrate each other’s individuality. We established partnerships with media rights holders and leagues to utilize our unique partner-oriented positioning and collective data to build community.
Our technology is both consumer-centric and complementary to the existing players in the sports media ecosystem. More specifically, Buzzer is focused on building a live sports and entertainment platform that is powered by micropayments, multi-interest based mobile notifications, and subscription authentication. Our ‘short-form live’ content delivers relevant, real-time mobile access to individual fans while fueling net new viewership, revenue, and data analytics to existing media rights holders. Think of Buzzer as a restaurant serving various small plates that would be analogous to those nail-biting, close-call moments in sports. First we’ll suggest the small plate of the day (perhaps a player with a possible record breaking game). If you know you like a certain small plate (like your favorite players and teams), we’ll offer you exactly what you order with live look-ins tailored to your favorites. And we’ll serve it to you once it’s ready, only asking you to pay for what you eat (with a micropayment).
Buzzer’s mission is to facilitate human connection through the collective love of sport, by using data to bring fans together through shared “lightning in a bottle” live moments. In doing so, we do our part in building community. While the love of sports is intergenerational and fandom is passed down over time, the means of sports consumption is not. Our goal is to be the connector of grandparents with grandkids, of parents with kids, as fans.
A Dynamic and Diverse Series A Investor Team
Fast forward to today, when we share with gratitude, humility and electric energy that we have raised a $20M Series A financing round led by our current investor, Sapphire Sport as well as a new partner in Canaan Ventures. The breadth in their expertise across sports, media, and consumer technology serves as a boundless resource for our team, pushing us to be better and more impactful in achieving our mission. Early investors Lerer Hippeau and Anthony Noto [SoFi, Army West Point] also supported the round.
Among the other believers in Buzzer are industry leaders spanning sports, business and entertainment, including LaMelo Ball, Devin Booker, J. Cole, Wayne Gretzky, DeAndre Hopkins, Sabrina Ionescu, Michael Jordan, Patrick Mahomes, Auston Matthews, Connor McDavid, Renee Montgomery, Naomi Osaka, and Bobby Wagner, among others.
Throughout this fundraising process, we focused on being extremely intentional in partnering with industry players who deeply understand the challenges currently imposed on the industry, and who are equally committed to building a platform optimized for the fan that complements existing sports media business models and advances industry through net new opportunities. Each and every one of our diverse set of investors understands the value of a platform that leans into the consumption habits of younger generations to drive an increase in viewership of sports’ most valuable assets: live games.
Sports are non-discriminatory, inviting fans from all backgrounds and perspectives to set aside their differences and enjoy unforgettable moments and celebrate human achievement. We want to democratize the access to all sports, and invest in underinvested and underserved sports.
Want to be part of our community?
Join us. Don’t miss.
– Buzzer Team