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YouTube Whistle Sports raises $28m

January 13, 2015

Whistle Sports, a Youtube sports network for the young, raised $28 million in a funding round that included investors Liberty Global and Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning.

Traditional media companies have been on the hunt to invest in YouTube networks, also known as multi-channel networks, or MCNs, which draw in younger viewers to watch inexpensively produced videos.

Emil Capital Partners, a US investing arm of Germany’s Tengelmann, led the round, which included Sky Broadcasting. Mannin, along with former New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, are previous investors and also contributed to the round.

It previously raised $8 million in a 2012 funding round.

Founded by John West, a former competitive rower and entrepreneur, Whistle has 35,000 videos related to sports, ranging from professional sport leagues such as the NFL, the PGA Tour, NASCAR to Olympic sports and frisbee. It launched last January and now has 12 million subscribers and 225 channel partners who make videos, the company said.

Categories: Articles, Business, Funding