Infront buys stake in AI-based video tracking tech firm

Infront Sports has acquired a stake in Videocites, a start-up from Israel that develops AI-based video tracking and analytics technology.

Videocites makes solutions for content protection, media monitoring and content management. Among its innovations is a fingerprinting technology that uses visual properties within videos in order to immediately track all copies of live, on-demand and promotional content across all channels.

Through the investment, Infront will look to introduce the company’s technology and services to current and future rights partners.

Christian Müller, Infront senior vice president of people, innovation and corporate services, said: “Videocites’ technology can help gather intelligence for our partners whilst also protecting their content, solving two common issues currently facing the industry. This investment is a continuation of Infront Lab’s work with some of the world’s most exciting technology start-ups which has provided huge benefits to our clients.”

The fingerprinting tool provides detailed information on earned media value, a valuable indicator for sponsors to see the impact of their sponsorship.

It also identifies pirate streams of on-demand and sports events, removing them immediately and substantially reducing the number of illegal broadcasts and lost views.

Eyal Arad, Videocites chief executive and co-founder, added: “Videocites’ unique advantage comes from our Video-AI search engine that scales to any number of videos to track all copies immediately. It is immune to all existing video manipulations and is used to offer high-end content protection, true viewership and fan engagement metrics across numerous channels.

“The partnership with Infront Lab will allow us to introduce our technology and services to some of the world’s top sports properties, assuring rapid market penetration and significant growth.“

The investment was led by Infront Lab, a new unit within the group which explores opportunities for intelligent solutions to challenges facing clients and partners in an agile and efficient manner.

Based in Israel, Videocites was founded in 2014 by