PICO'S 2020 YEAR IN REVIEW

Last year, we welcomed 2020 with open arms, unbeknownst to us what 2020 would actually turn into. It certainly wasn’t what we, or anyone in the world for that matter, could have predicted. While difficult to say and think about - it’s important to look at some of the positive things that came out of 2020. Maybe it was being able to spend more time at home with your family, picking up a new hobby, learning how to bake bread from scratch, or understanding what’s most important to you. So while we see and feel the hardships of 2020, we also see and feel the small pieces of good that came along with it.

HERE ARE SOME OF OUR HIGHLIGHTS FROM 2020

3 NEW FEATURES

Clickable Image

It’s important that fans are met with simple yet fun, intuitive digital activations that keep them engaged and provide a positive fan experience. That’s why we launched the Clickable Image feature. It’s as simple as uploading an image and clicking on it.

Automatic Activation Generator (AAG)

When the pandemic first hit, sports teams needed new content, and they needed it fast. For a while, they 

didn’t have new footage of practice or games to share across their channels. They had to repurpose content in a fun way while also creating new content on the fly. We developed and launched the Automatic Activation Generator (AAG), which essentially, is exactly what it sounds like. The AAG was designed so that teams can learn more about their fans wherever they are, including their own website. You can read what our CTO, Aviv Paz, had to say about the AAG here →

Content Finder

Speaking of content, to help take off some of the load that social media managers and content creators were met with this year, we created a Content Finder- not a Content Planner but a Finder. Teams use it to find and (also) remember interesting, funny, memorable events from previous years that will make for good, engaging content for their fans. The type of content that fans love to engage with. That fans love to remember and share. We understand that time is valuable and doesn’t have to be spent searching for content ideas. 

3M$ INVESTED

In the past 12 months, we raised a total of $3M from top-tier VCs including German VC firm RSBG Ventures and Hong-Kong based investment firm, Silverhorn Group. It isn’t lost on us how fortunate we are to have been able to raise money in such an unprecedented time. We used the funding to grow our technology and team, and welcomed Lisa Bregman, former Marketing Director of the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks as an Activation Strategist on the Client Success side.

NEW PARTNERS

Pico has seen tremendous growth year-over-year, as the need for data-management, fan engagement, and personalization is as important as ever. We have doubled our customer base in less than one year with over 50+ teams from 10 different leagues working with us.

On the roster we have new teams from the NFL, NBA, and Euroleague, as well as the Portugal Football Federation. We are managing the data of over 2 million+ fans within Pico’s database. If you want to see some of the work we’ve done with them throughout the past year, check out our activations page

To hear from our partners directly what it's like to work with us, click here → 

NEW INDUSTRY

Hello Esports! We are thrilled to have teamed up with Learfield IMG College to help amplify their school-specific social promotion for Level Next, the College Esports League that launched in the fall. 

Our technology is tracking the engagement of each post while sharing the results in real-time on a leaderboard within levelnextesports.com. And what would a Pico campaign be without some personalization? Level Next fans will be set for personalized communication and messaging specific to them as we track the engagement of gamers and fans while also identifying them with our data-capture technology. It’s our bread and butter!

SAP.iO x PICO

Pico was selected as one of eight companies to participate in SAP’s first ever fan experience-focused startup accelerator programs. The cohort, which was entirely virtual this year, was operated out of the SAP.iO Foundry location in Munich, in collaboration with SAP Garden, the multipurpose sports arena built by Red Bull in Munich’s Olympiapark. We worked closely with SAP mentors and developed proof-of-concepts for both Red Bull and FC Bayern. You can watch our demo-day video below:

SOME FIRSTS FOR US

We hosted our first webinar where we saw over 30+ attendees from the NHL, NFL, and Bundesliga joining to learn more about Pico technology and capabilities. We did a complete deep dive into what makes activations work and perform best and how our clients can use Pico hand-in-hand with the content that they are already creating and producing. 

Here’s a snippet of what it looked like:

100,000+ HOURS OF ASKING
“CAN YOU SEE MY SCREEN?”

And we’ll probably keep asking! To spice up our Zoom and Google Meet video conferences, we created custom sport-themed backgrounds. Check them out here!



2020 has not been the easiest! And just like any year, I’m sure 2021 will present its own new challenges. As we stay safe, healthy, and 6 feet apart, I am confident this past year has been a learning experience for everyone. Within the SportsTech space we have seen the true loyalty and devotion between fans and their teams, that leaves space for positivity and faith. We are as ready as we can be for 2021, we are here for ourselves, our families, our team, for our partners, and for the sports fan experience. We are taking what we have learned and seen and using it to provide guidance and insights to our partners.