Seattle-area startup Tagboard raised $8 million to boost its live production technology used by sports and entertainment companies.
Founded in 2011, Tagboard launched more than a decade ago, helping teams such as the Seattle Mariners find and display fan social media content at their stadiums during games.
Tagboard still works with sports teams and leagues to surface social posts but has also expanded its products to include a cloud-based production platform and graphics system. The 40-person company has more than 600 clients including CNN, FOX, Telemundo, and others.
Part of Tagboard’s appeal is to help drive efficiency by moving graphics system production to the cloud and allow for remote operation.
“As the sheer number of options has the attention of viewers spread thinner across linear and digital broadcast, networks have an imperative to embrace cloud innovation to produce stories in a more efficient and impactful way,” Nathan Peterson, who was promoted to CEO last month, told GeekWire. “Tagboard removes the complexity and cost of legacy production hardware, empowering producers to create shows from anywhere in the world, whether they are traveling abroad, working from home, or in the broadcast studio.”
Peterson pointed to Tagboard’s partnership with NBC Sports to produce interactive segments for Winter Olympics coverage on both traditional broadcast TV and online livestreams. Those productions were “easily produced from fully-remote global locations,” Peterson noted in a blog post.
Peterson replaced co-founder Josh Decker, who is now president and chair of the board. Peterson joined the board as a result of his promotion.
Axios first reported the funding news.
Tagboard previously raised $5.7 million. The Series A round was led by Grayhawk Capital and Next Frontier Capital. Other backers include Sinclair Broadcast Group and WISE Ventures.
Tagboard is ranked No. 107 on the GeekWire 200 list of top Pacific Northwest startups. In addition to Peterson’s promotion, the company also recently added four new executives:
- Linka Baumgardt as chief strategy officer. Baumgardt was most recently head of marketing at food company Agni, Baumgardt previously led strategic initiatives for cannabis lifestyle companies Tilray and Leafly.
- Kirk Dickinson as chief financial officer. He was previously CFO at React Mobile and Allrecipes.
- Sergey Lvov as VP of engineering. Lvov was most recently director of engineering at AppliedVR and previously led software development for NFL Media.
- Amanda Konarek as VP of acquisition. She was previously the principal at her own recruiting firm, AK Talent Partners.
