Social media nuts have been reminding us how they used Twitter and such like to “share” World Cup TV viewing.
Now Sofanatics, a Finnish startup which connects football fans on webcams during televised matches, has used the morning after the tournament’s end to announce it’s raised seed funding.
We don’t normally cover seed fundings, and Sofanatics isn’t disclosing amounts, but the investor line-up is interesting – Jaiku founders Jyri Engeström and Petteri Koponen (who made money in an ill-fated sale to Google), plus former Crystal Palace midfielder Aki Riihilahti.
Here’s how the Netherlands-Spain World Cup final played out on Sofanatics – though, frankly, we’ve no idea what the “faith-o-meter” amount to, or whether this is anything more significant than a standard chat room.
Here’s how a game plays out in match time…
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All looks a bit austere.
The former CEO of Finnish public broadcaster YLE is on the company board, Sofanatics says.
Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) and BSkyB (NYSE: BSY) have tried something similar by creating a “room” for Xbox Live friends to join each other whilst watching a Sky Sports game over the console. But we haven’t heard of this becoming even a niche activity, much less mainstream.