Fanvibe
Social platform for watching sports and communicating with others who are watching the same game.
| Date | Investors | Amount | Round |
|---|---|---|---|
| investor investor investor investor | €0.0 | round | |
N/A | Acquisition | ||
| Total Funding | 000k | ||
Fanvibe operated as a social platform designed for sports fans to enhance their game-watching experience. Founded in 2009 by Vishwas Prabhakara, Joe Pestro, and Art Chang, the San Francisco-based company aimed to create a digital space where fans could interact while watching sporting events. Prabhakara served as the CEO, with Pestro as the Lead Developer and Chang as the Lead Technical Architect. All three founders later participated in the Y Combinator accelerator program again with a new venture, Priime.
The company was a participant in the Summer 2010 batch of the prestigious accelerator Y Combinator, securing an undisclosed amount in a seed funding round on September 1, 2010. This investment supported its mission to build new products for sports enthusiasts under the parent company name, "We The Fan". The platform, initially known as FanPulse, allowed users to "check-in" to live games, a concept similar to Foursquare's location-based check-ins. This feature enabled them to chat and engage in friendly "trash-talk" with friends and other fans watching the same game.
The service provided users with a custom feed of news and scores, a personalized real-time scoreboard, and breaking news alerts for a wide array of sports leagues, including the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, college football and basketball, and the English Premier League. To facilitate community growth, Fanvibe integrated a friend-finder feature that connected with users' Facebook and Twitter accounts. The business model focused on user engagement and partnerships, providing fans with deals on tickets and merchandise. The company reported high user engagement, with users spending significantly more time on the platform compared to major sports media sites. On June 27, 2011, Fanvibe was acqui-hired by beRecruited, marking the conclusion of its journey as an independent entity.
Keywords: Fanvibe, sports social platform, game check-in, fan engagement, Y Combinator, Vishwas Prabhakara, Joe Pestro, Art Chang, beRecruited, sports technology, social sports app, live game chat, real-time scores, sports news feed, FanPulse, We The Fan, mobile sports app, fan community, sports merchandise deals, social check-in