Wincast, which has built an interactive platform to enable creation of nonfungible tokens during live sporting events, has closed a $5 million seed round from New York-based A100x Ventures and CoinFund, Dubai-based Cypher Capital and others, according to a listing on Crunchbase.
The New York startup’s prior backers include Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, London’s Cogitent Ventures, Ceras Ventures and Malta’s BNB Chain Fund. Founded in 2021 by CEO Noah Diskin Kline, Wincast has raised $7.8 million so far.
“We are redefining the experience of watching sports by combining it with NFTs,” Kline said when Wincast closed a pre-seed round in 2022. “Imagine the ability to commemorate a single event leading up to one of the greatest moments in sports history such as the pressure-packed pitch in the bottom of the 9th inning, or the wind-up before a final knock out – the possibilities are endless.”
As an entrepreneur, Kline has pursued varied emerging technologies, such as blockchain, streaming, gaming, data, cannabis/hemp, AI, and fintech. He is the founder of Kilobyte Labs, a startup incubator for ventures in emerging technology verticals, and has led it since 2015.
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Kline has also served as a strategic consultant to Elements, a flexible server engine for web3 ecosystems. He is an investor in ESTV, dubbed the first worldwide 24/7 live linear Esports channel available on “every device, every platform and everywhere.”
As it combines live sports and NFTs, Wincast also equips broadcasters with new ways to deliver ads as well as engage audiences. Among other things, users can create NFTs from key moments in live sports and then auction them in quick time, as a game continues. For example, once a batter steps up to the plate, users can begin bidding on an NFT, the company said. Users can also trade NFTs.
“Our front and back-end monetization solutions increase live fan engagement, insights and spend, while simultaneously improving the overall spectator experience,” Wincast said.
