IMG ARENA has disclosed that it has undertaken a strategic investment in Swedish compound-computing specialist Signality with a view to enhance the data gathering and processing capacity of its sportstech, media and betting product portfolio. 

Founded in 2016, Signality has developed a cloud-based SaaS platform to help sports businesses/stakeholders extract live data from videos and related media,  helping provide partners with unique advantages to help scale their products/services and optimise their wider tech solutions.

The Linköping-based business is led by the founding team of ex-Apple Engineer Mikael Rousson (CEO) and sports executive partner Michael Hoglund to extract the most accurate real-time sports data through the use of AI-data solutions.   

“Signality was born from a vision of enhancing sport at a fundamental level using computer vision technology,” Rousson commented on the partnership.

“Joining the IMG ARENA business is a natural union born out of synergies in product, customer base and, most importantly, culture and vision. It will accelerate our joint desire of having a global impact on the future of sports and sports fans.”

IMG ARENA underlined the importance of the venture investment to deliver new enhancements to its sports media eco-system, which currently delivers live streaming and data feeds for more than 45,000 sports events annually.

Of further significance, Signality live data insights will be used to develop new innovations for IMG ARENA’s on-demand virtual sports suite and front-end solutions. IMG ARENA’s clients include the ATP, UFC, DP World Tour, PGA Tour, MLS and the FA.

Brad van Wely, Chief Product Officer, IMG ARENA, said: “This is a very exciting and important investment for IMG ARENA. It will enable us to build a next-generation data collection system, which will generate new and exciting insights across a multitude of sports.”

“This compelling data will underpin both our current and future suite of products for rightsholders and fans alike, combining real-time data, and analytics with innovative front-end solutions to enhance the fan experience.”