Corporate brands including insurer Allianz and broadcaster Sky backed "the burgeoning sport of drone racing" by contributing to a $20M fundraising, according to Bradley Gerrard of the London TELEGRAPH. The Drone Racing League, which launched in '15, raised $12M last year "but has been able to almost double that after its popularity has skyrocketed." DRL Founder Nick Horbaczewski said that the sport boasted 33 million TV viewers and 40 million people watching online in '16, according to Nielsen data. The money raised "will be used to help grow its broadcast audience as well as to develop the technology behind the drones," to which it owns the intellectual property and manufactures. The DRL 2017 final took place at London’s Alexandra Palace on Tuesday. Sky Group Dir of Business Development & Partnerships Emma Lloyd said that drone racing was in a "sweet spot" between the media, technology and sports worlds (TELEGRAPH, 6/12). In L.A., Todd Spangler reported the DRL also brought in WWE as a new investor. DRL also announced additional partners and sponsors including Swatch, Forto Coffee Shots and the U.S. Air Force. The league's '17 TV broadcast season kicks off on June 20 on ESPN, and will be broadcast in more than 75 countries with partners including Sky Sports, ProSiebenSat.1, Disney XD and OSN. In addition to Liberty Media, Sky, WWE and Allianz, other existing investors that participated in the latest round of funding in DRL include Hearst Ventures, RSE Ventures, Lerer Hippeau Ventures and Courtside Ventures. DRL also added as an investor CRCM Ventures, "supporting its expansion into China." LionTree acted as financial adviser for the company and Morrison Foerster was the company’s legal adviser (VARIETY, 6/12).
