SportTechInvestment

An audience engagement platform has been backed by prominent figures in the world of sports and TV.

Monterosa, based in London, Liverpool and Minsk, Belarus, helps sport and entertainment brands engage with fans and gain insight into third-party data.

After Liverpool Football Club sealed its first Premier League title in 30 years, Monterosa’s match centre solution was at the heart of its fan engagement strategy.

The LFC Match Centre provides a single destination for any Liverpool fan around the globe to be immersed in everything that happens before, during and after a game.

Directed by a live presenter streamed to the timeline, it combines a series of exclusive media, social and live match commentary content with a range of interactive elements including votes, polls, trivia and a ‘Klopp ‘o’ meter’.

Liverpool FC match centre

Now Monterosa has raised £3.5 million of growth capital to accelerate development of its real-time engagement platform and drive the company’s expansion into new global markets. 

The funding was led by 24Haymarket and included existing investor ACF Investors, plus a trio of new investors including Jeremy Darroch, former CEO and executive chair at Sky; Chris Rodman, previously group MD of Topps; and Richard Scudamore, former CEO of the Premier League, who also joined the Monterosa board in 2021.

In 2021, Monterosa’s Interaction Cloud generated 2 billion interactions, serving more than 100m users globally. Other recent customers adopting the platform include Viasat, Formula E and the 6 Nations. 

Unlike outsourced or in-house builds, the platform offers fast time to launch and a suite of gamification, participation, interactive video and sports data visualisation experiences, all under a simple subscription and support model.

“Monterosa’s Interaction Cloud platform has demonstrated a unique value proposition to the company’s rights holder and media customers, allowing them to more successfully navigate changing consumer habits and optimise their revenue potential,” said Paul Tselentis, CEO at 24Haymarket.

From football touchline to trailblazing FinTech

Tim Mills, managing partner at ACF Investors, commented: “Monterosa was early in identifying the growing demand for interactive fan engagement and the traction it has achieved in terms of interactions, users and big-name customers demonstrates the strength of the business. 

“We can’t wait to see what it achieves next as it accelerates global expansion.”