Minute Media, the BlackRock and Goldman Sachs-backed sports media company behind Sports Illustrated, just closed its biggest acquisition yet - scooping up Mumbai-based AI startup VideoVerse for around $250 million. The deal gives Minute Media's 200 million monthly users access to AI that can automatically extract highlights from sports footage, potentially reshaping how fans consume content across leagues from the NFL to cricket's IPL.
Minute Media just made the biggest bet in its history on AI-powered sports content. The BlackRock and Goldman Sachs-backed media company announced Monday it's acquiring VideoVerse, an Indian startup that uses artificial intelligence to automatically extract highlights and create content from sports footage, in a deal valued around $250 million.
The acquisition immediately transforms Minute Media from a traditional sports publisher into an AI-first content creation powerhouse. VideoVerse's technology already processes footage for major properties including the Indian Premier League, FIFA+, and broadcasters like Nippon TV, generating $65 million in annual revenue with healthy 35-40% EBITDA margins.
"VideoVerse's acquisition is the biggest for the company in terms of both value and company size," Minute Media CEO Asaf Peled told TechCrunch. The deal dwarfs previous acquisitions including The Players' Tribune, Fansided, and Mental Floss.
Founded in 2016 by Vinayak Shrivastav, VideoVerse initially built AI tools for diverse applications - from detecting smoking scenes for India's film censor board to identifying products in e-commerce videos. But the company pivoted entirely to sports when streaming platform Hotstar (now owned by Jio) needed technology to identify key moments in cricket matches.
"In 2016, Hotstar was growing, and they were looking for a solution that could identify certain action points in sports and primarily in cricket," Shrivastav explained about the company's sports journey. That pivot proved prescient - VideoVerse has since raised $105 million from investors including Bluestone Equity Partners and A91 Partners.
The timing couldn't be better. Multiple industry reports suggest fans increasingly demand dynamic, mobile-first content beyond traditional broadcast coverage. VideoVerse's platform operates like a SaaS tool, charging based on hours of footage processed, but recent updates let broadcasters create sophisticated automated content packages.
For example, a basketball broadcaster can now set rules for automatically generating highlight reels of all three-pointers by a specific player and instantly publish to social media. The platform also includes AI-powered translation features to help sports properties reach global audiences.
"While the platform uses third-party models in its AI workflows, the company uses its own core model to identify key moments in a game," noted VideoVerse chief strategy officer Prateek Sharma.
Minute Media's strategic logic centers on combining VideoVerse's AI capabilities with its massive distribution network. The company reaches over 200 million monthly users through properties like Sports Illustrated, The Players' Tribune, and 90 Minutes, plus operates a B2B platform used by nearly 500 publishers.
"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 explained.
The acquisition positions Minute Media to target major US leagues with automated highlight generation technology. Sources familiar with the deal told TechCrunch that VideoVerse was valued between $200-250 million in its last funding round in 2023, with Minute Media's offer in a similar range.
For VideoVerse, the deal provides access to Western markets and major league relationships that would have taken years to build independently. The company's revenue growth - from startup to $65 million annually - demonstrates strong product-market fit in an industry hungry for automated content solutions.
Peled indicated Minute Media isn't done dealmaking. While not actively fundraising, the company may seek additional capital for more acquisitions as it builds an AI-powered sports media empire. The VideoVerse deal signals how artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping content creation across the sports industry.
This acquisition represents more than just consolidation in sports media - it's a fundamental shift toward AI-driven content creation. As traditional broadcasters struggle with the costs and complexity of manual highlight generation, automated solutions like VideoVerse's become essential infrastructure. For fans, this means more personalized, instant content delivered across platforms. The real test will be whether Minute Media can successfully integrate VideoVerse's technology with major US leagues and justify the $250 million investment through new revenue streams.
