Brizi Cam has closed $2.5 million in seed funding.
The round was led by 2EP, one of the early investors in Harmonix, which developed GuitarHero and RockBand. Targeting large-scale events, Brizi develops fan-controlled cameras that allow fans to take pictures of themselves at an event. Fans tap in their seat number while a robotic camera pivots to find them, and they see themselves on their phone. They then have 30 seconds to pinch and zoom to get everyone in the shot. A branded overlay is added to the photo, and can be shared on the fan’s social media.
For rights-holders, data and analytics are made available through a dashboard. The funding will be used for research and development, growth, and market expansion.
“Let’s face it, we’re now in a world defined by experiences. We know traditional rights-holders like sports teams are still struggling to fill their seats,” said Anna Hu, CEO and co-founder of Brizi. “Brizi is amplifying the value behind every experience, adding a new layer of camera-enabled memories that make those moments more meaningful.”
The company was recently part of the Techstars 2017 Boston cohort, and was the 2017 SXSW accelerator winner in the sports category.
“We’re pushing boundaries in human-machine interaction, computer vision, and in the near future, AI as well,” said Sami Dalati, CTO and co-founder of Brizi. “It’s particularly exciting to work on redefining how people interact with cameras outside of their smartphones, and building technology for seamless real-time control particularly in harsh network environments.”