Sky, NBC feature in Whistle Sports funding round

Digital sports media content company Whistle Sports has closed its latest round of Series C funding having secured investment from European broadcast group Sky and the NBC Sports Ventures division of US media group NBCUniversal.

Whistle did not officially disclose the amount collected during the round, but various media outlets report that the figure was approximately $20m (€18m).

US broadcast and digital media company Tegna and private investment firm Emil Capital also featured in the round. 

Rick Cordella, senior vice-president and general manager digital media at NBC Sports Group, said: “Whistle Sports has proven to be a reliable source of original and creative content, and their data-driven approach to developing new audience insights sets them up for an even stronger future.”

Sky already has an interest in Whistle after making an initial investment of $7m in October 2014. Last year, the two firms launched a new social media channel dedicated to creating original football content.

In January of last year, retired New York Yankees star Derek Jeter (pictured) also invested in the company.