DRL Unveils International Partners, Close of
$20M Financing Ahead of 2017
Season
NEW YORK, June 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Drone
Racing League (DRL), the global leader in professional drone
racing, today announced key multi-year, international partners and
sponsors ahead of its 2017 race season. In February, DRL introduced
Allianz as the title sponsor of DRL's elite race circuit,
leveraging the insurance brand's motor racing sponsorship heritage
to bring the "Sport of the Future" to a rapidly
growing worldwide audience. Allianz and previously announced
Toy State, home of high-performance
Nikko™ Air racing
drones, are joined by some of the world's most
well-known and respected brands including Amazon (Prime Video),
Swatch, FORTO Coffee Shots and the U.S. Air Force. The season
begins on June 20 on ESPN, and will
be broadcast in more than 75 countries with broadcast partners
including Sky Sports, ProSiebenSat.1, Disney XD and OSN.
DRL also announced today the close of a Series B investment
round. The total financing was more than $20
million, led by Sky, Liberty Media Corporation (owner of
Formula 1) and Lux Capital. In addition to Liberty Media
Corporation, DRL added new investors Allianz (its global Title
Sponsor of the race circuit) and World Wrestling Entertainment
(WWE). Other existing partners that join Sky and Lux in the round
include Hearst Ventures, RSE Ventures, Lerer Hippeau Ventures, and
Courtside Ventures. DRL has also added CRCM Ventures, supporting
DRL's expansion into China.
LionTree Advisors acted as a financial advisor for the company
and Morrison Foerster was the company's legal advisor.
"We're incredibly proud to announce new partners
and investors aligning with DRL to solidify drone racing as the
sport of the future," said Nicholas
Horbaczewski, CEO and Founder of DRL. "Over the
past 18 months, we've committed to building a technology company
that can capture the imagination of new sports fans around the
world. The support we have from some of the most respected brands
and investors is helping us rapidly realize that vision."
The announcement from DRL comes ahead of the UK's first
professional drone race and the last race in the 2017 Allianz World
Championship Season, the headline event during London Tech Week.
The race will take place at London's iconic Alexandra Palace on
June 13th, with 8 of the best pilots
flying to be crowned the 'best in the world' during the
winner-take-all 2017 season finale. Tickets for the event can be
purchased at:
http://www.alexandrapalace.com/whats-on/drone-racing-league-season-finale-allianz-world-championship-2017/
and spectators will be able to bet on the racing with the
Paddy Power Betfair app, Betfair Sportsbook.
The Drone Racing League launched in January 2016 as the only global professional
drone racing organization, hosting five professional races in its
inaugural season. DRL's '16 season reached more than 75 million
fans around the world, including more than 30 million broadcast
viewers and more than 45 million views of its digital content. The
title partnership with Allianz will help DRL to continue to reach
new viewers and build an even larger global fan base as the company
introduces new events, media and brand partners in its second
season. Toy State's Nikko Air offerings
are the only racing drones powered by the same technology used by
professional DRL drone racing pilots. The company's highly
anticipated new line-up, which will give a wide swath of
consumers the chance to experience the fast-paced fun of
drone racing, takes flight at major retailers nationwide this
August.
ABOUT Sky
Sky is Europe's leading entertainment company,
serving 22 million customers across five countries: UK,
Ireland, Germany, Austria and Italy. We offer the best and broadest range of
content, deliver market-leading customer service and use innovative
new technology to give customers a better TV experience, whenever
and wherever they choose. Sky has annual revenues of £12 billion
and is Europe's leading investor
in television content with a combined programming budget of £5.2
billion. The group employs 30,000 people and is listed on the
London Stock Exchange (SKY).
ABOUT DRL
DRL is the
premier drone racing circuit for elite FPV pilots around the world.
A technology, sports and media company, DRL combines world-class
media and proprietary technology to create thrilling drone racing
content with mass appeal. In 2017 DRL is hosting a global series of
six races, the Allianz World Championship, to be broadcast on ESPN,
Sky Sports, ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE, Disney XD, OSN and other
leading broadcast channels around the world. Founded by
Nicholas Horbaczewski in 2015, DRL
is a privately held company headquartered in NYC. For more
information on the 2017 race season,
visit www.drl.io. To
join the conversation, follow DRL on Facebook
at facebook.com/thedroneracingleague,
on
Twitter @DroneRaceLeague,
and on
Instagram @thedroneracingleague.
CONTACT INFO
Ben Johnson, Marketing,
DRL
ben@drl.io
Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32FbtCrEDAU
Photo -
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