NTT DOCOMO Ventures Invests in W.S.C. Sports Technologies Ltd.

NTT DOCOMO Ventures, Inc. (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan; President and CEO, Takayuki Inagawa) has invested, through its fund, in W.S.C. Sports Technologies Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “WSC Sports”), an Israeli-based startup that provides a platform capable of automatically creating sports video highlights in near real-time by utilizing AI and machine learning technologies to distribute to all sorts of digital media.

1. Outline of the investment
NTT DOCOMO Ventures, Inc., through the fund it operates, has acquired shares in WSC Sports through the company’s third-party allotment.

2. Background of the investment
WSC Sports’ AI platform for video content analyzes audio, video and data in the live broadcast and not only identifies each and every event that occurs in the game but also creates and distributes short-form videos by any parameter, such as players and scenes selected, to any digital destination. This enables partners to instantly generate and distribute professionally edited personalized clips and videos on a large scale.

WSC Sports’ platform is being highly evaluated by broadcasters wishing to maximize their own value as the media, in addition to sports teams or leagues aiming to boost fan engagement and attract new fans by utilizing digital media. Specifically speaking, it is being used by many world-famous professional sports leagues and broadcasters, such as the U.S. professional basketball league (NBA), Germany’s professional football league (Bundesliga), the U.S. organizer of the main professional golf tours played in North America (PGA Tour), and the U.S. mass media conglomerate (WarnerMedia).
In 2018, WSC Sports analyzed more than 17,000 sporting events and produced more than 850,000 videos.

It is projected that there will be growing demand for sports highlight videos to be available on smartphones going forward*1, and WSC Sports’ solutions are expected to grow worldwide including Japan.

In addition, their solutions have good chemistry with the NTT Group’s initiatives in the field of sports including the ultra-realistic sport-viewing experience, and we have decided to make this investment expecting that it will contribute to the creation of new values in this field.

*1 PwC’s Sports Survey 2018　 https://www.pwc.com/jp/ja/knowledge/thoughtleadership/2019/assets/pdf/sports1903.pdf