FanAI, an esports audience analytics company, announced it has acquired esports data startup, Waypoint Media. It’s one more sign that esports is heating up, as market researcher Newzoo forecasts esports will become a $1.7 billion market by 2021.
FanAI will integrate Waypoint’s tools into its existing platform to provide additional granular audience data points that give clients unique actionable insights in order to guide marketing, sponsorship, and fan activation decisions. The purchase price wasn’t disclosed.
The deal includes Waypoint’s Twitch Middleware applications programming interface (API), URL shortener and tracking platform Raven, and an engineering team with over five years of experience in esports data. Esports
The Twitch Middleware API will add a deeper level of understanding to the audience profile and measuring return on investment (ROI). The API has the ability to track every unique registered Twitch viewer so the company can look at the distribution of data points such as: average watch time, median watch time, and channel engagement.
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“At FanAI we couldn’t be happier to welcome Waypoint’s team and technology on board,” said FanAI founder and CEO Johannes Waldstein, in a statement. “The way they are able to turn billions of data points into workable information is like nothing else available on the market. We will be able to provide a deeper look at audiences with the new tools and having someone like Kevin join us will cement the FanAI services at the top of the industry.”
The Raven URL shortener will enable FanAI clients to see a roadmap of how users browse their online platforms, supplementing FanAI’s current purchasing data to show further deeper looks at how the fans engage with websites, shops, and social content. This is key for measuring the ROI of campaigns, content production, and sponsorship activities.
As part of the acquisition, Waypoint’s chief product officer, Kevin Hsu, joins FanAI as head of adtech.
“Combining forces with FanAI is a perfect fit; we work with the same client base and have complementary solutions to the same problem,” said Hsu, in a statement. “Traditionally, FanAI has focused on more static information including social and purchasing data, while Waypoint worked to gather digital movements of the audience. Combined, we can provide the best service by giving access to even more detailed and actionable data for clients.”
FanAI has 20 employees. Waypoint has three, but only Hsu is joining FanAI.
