LiveLike

Established in 2015, LiveLike emerged from the desire of its co-founder, Miheer Walavalkar, to recreate the communal excitement of watching live sports with friends, even when physically apart. Frustrated by the solitary experience of watching international games late at night in India, he, along with co-founders Saswat Panda, Jeremie Lasnier, Samuel Westberg, and Fabrice Lorenceau, launched the New York-based company. The founding team brought diverse expertise to the venture; Panda had experience at Microsoft on the Xbox One launch, while Walavalkar had a background in investment banking and had co-founded an ed-tech company in India. The company initially focused on delivering immersive virtual reality experiences for sports, allowing fans to feel as if they were in a stadium.

LiveLike has since evolved into a B2B SaaS platform that provides a suite of audience engagement tools for a variety of digital platforms. The firm primarily serves media companies, sports organizations, and broadcasters, enabling them to integrate interactive features directly into their existing applications through a white-label software development kit (SDK). This business model allows clients like Canal+, Sky Group, WarnerMedia, and Fox Sports to enhance viewer retention and create new monetization opportunities. The company's revenue is generated through this platform-based service. Over the years, LiveLike has secured significant funding, raising a total of $27.1 million over nine rounds from investors including Techstars, Greycroft, and the NFL.

The core of LiveLike's offering is a customizable toolkit designed to convert passive viewers into active participants. This includes features like live chats (public, private, and influencer-led), interactive widgets such as polls and quizzes, and gamification elements like leaderboards and rewards to foster a sense of community. Broadcasters can use these tools to push real-time alerts, statistics, and promotional offers. Initially centered on sports events like the FIFA World Cup and the Super Bowl, LiveLike has expanded its market reach to serve industries such as e-commerce, fintech, and entertainment, democratizing its engagement tools for a wider array of clients.

Keywords: audience engagement, fan engagement, interactive streaming, gamification, live events, SaaS, white-label platform, SDK, sports technology, media technology, digital experience platform, viewer retention, monetization tools, live chat, interactive widgets, loyalty rewards, sports broadcasting, fan community, second screen experience, virtual events