LOS ANGELES (06/29/2000) - SportsYA Inc., a Web site in Spanish and Portuguese aimed at sports enthusiasts, received US$11 million from investors, which the company plans to use to expand its presence in Brazil, add broadband and wireless features and begin selling online, the company announced on Thursday.
Investors include International Management Group/Chase Sports Capital, Chase Capital Partners, Flatiron Partners, Venture Technologies and Radio Unica Communications Corp.
The investment from Radio Unica -- about $3 million -- also involves an agreement between the companies to share content and jointly seek new business opportunities, according to the SportsYA. Radio Unica has a network of Spanish-language radio stations in the U.S. that, according to the company, reach 80 percent of U.S. Hispanics. It also broadcasts over the Internet.
Miami-based SportsYA also announced this month its acquisition of Element7.com, a business-to-business online exchange for Latin American retailers and U.S.-based distributors of sports products.
SportsYA serves the Latin America, Spain and U.S. Hispanic markets, with sports news at its general and country-specific sections. It has 180 full-time employees and has offices in Argentina, Mexico, Spain and Brazil.
The company boasts of including stories from expert columnists such as former Formula One driver Emerson Fittipaldi and the former coach of Argentina's national soccer team, Cesar Luis Menotti.
SportsYA also has content alliances with Microsoft Corp., Lycos Inc., Prodigy Communications Corp. and AvantGo Inc., according to the company's press release.
SportsYA, based in Miami, can be reached at http://www.sportsya.com