Nexting, an innovative SME and publisher of SportFace – a proprietary OTT platform developed in house to provide all sports federations with a showcase for their content and make it more accessible – has strengthened its position by completing a 2.06 million euro capital increase subscribed by CDP Venture Capital, Apside (an asset manager backed by Intesa Sanpaolo), RDS, P&S, ITDM and Paolo Scudieri.

Active in the broadcast and OTT platform space, Nexting’s mission is focused both on the quality of its work and the intelligent technologies it aims to use to revolutionise the sports content market. Founded in Naples, the company has offices in Milan, Rome, London and Madrid. CDP Venture Capital had already taken an interest in Nexting in 2020, backing the company through the Italia Venture II Fund – Imprese Sud Fund, with a 200,000 euro convertible loan under the “Seed per il Sud” initiative.

The company and its partners

Nexting was founded at the end of 2017 as an innovative startup and is led by Antonio Palmieri, an entrepreneur with extensive experience in audiovisual production and the live broadcasting of sports events. The other founders of the initiative are Giovanni Copertino, Gianluca Napolano and Renato Votta. From the outset, the company did not settle with becoming a key player in the "service to broadcast" business for clients such as Sky Italia, Mediaset, RAI, Dazn, La7 and Il Sole 24 Ore. Indeed, it showed a strong drive for technological innovation, focusing on artificial intelligence applications and remote production in sports with a game-changing approach that leverages the design and implementation of technology platforms serving Over The Top (OTT) production and distribution.

Giving visibility and voice to all sports, broadcasting national and international competitions and podcasts live and on demand, not to mention original formats, interviews and highlights, documentaries and TV series to showcase the unique aspects of every discipline: this is the mission of Sportface, an on-demand TV service born out of a strategic M&A operation. With this transaction, Nexting acquired the masthead and all assets of the publishing company founded in 2016, and in 2024 transformed it into an audiovisual sports platform with the ambition to become the most comprehensive content aggregator focused on broadcasting sports events that strike a balance between the costs of rights and the fan base.

Investors and the “new” Nexting

Nexting will continue to be led by CEO Antonio Palmieri, who is resolutely pursuing a business plan with a future-oriented and international outlook. The presence of industrial partners in the company’s shareholding structure enables Nexting to develop major synergies and take a qualitative leap in its ability to implement and advance a vision consistently focused on innovation.

"I've always believed that it's not enough just to be there – you have to make a difference", said Palmieri. "Nexting is a disruptive organisation with the courage and credibility to bring ideas, innovation and above all a new mindset to truly support every player in the world of sports broadcasting”.

The Chair of Nexting is Alessandro Picardi, a senior executive with extensive experience in the broadcasting sector, having worked first at Sky and later in top management at Rai. More recently, Picardi served as Executive Vice President of TIM, Executive Chair of Olivetti and Chair of Finlombarda Gestioni SGR.

His innovative entrepreneurial vision led him to invest personally in Nexting and subsequently join the founders in driving its growth and development, taking on the role of Chair with responsibility for strategic and industrial development. "Nexting offers something new that doesn’t exist on the market. Its ability to integrate innovative technological development with experience in audiovisual production as a service broadcaster places it at the centre of the market – a unique player thanks to the breadth of solutions it offers clients and viewers. Through SportFace, users can enjoy sports as a simple yet truly innovative experience in terms of content quality and accessibility".

This view is shared by Francesca Ottier, Senior Partner and Head of the Italia Venture II Fund - Imprese Sud Fund at CDP Venture Capital. "We chose to continue investing in Nexting because it represents an outstanding example of Italian innovation in the broadcasting and OTT platform sector. Its ability to combine advanced technology with a profound knowledge of the market has already had a significant impact. We’re excited to support its growth and help bring its talent and solutions to a global stage".

Volano, with partner Giovanni De Caro and director Benedetto Di Martino, advised Nexting on the technical aspects of the transaction. Francesco Pezcoller was the legal advisor.

For CDP Venture Capital the operation was managed by Francesca Ottier, Head of the Italia Venture II Fund - Imprese Sud Fund, together with Alessandro Angeletti, Investment Manager, and Stefano Tomei, Associate.

The mission: from Paris 2024 to the everyday stories of sports

The company’s clients include all major broadcasters, Italy’s leading publishing groups, CONI, the European Olympic Committees, numerous sports federations and the Teatro San Carlo in Naples. For these clients, Nexting handles content production and distribution on the platform, as well as event production with dedicated on-site crews and cameras designed in-house powered by autonomous or remotely controlled AI.

The Paris 2024 Olympic Games marked an important milestone in SportFace’s growth, introducing a model of sports reporting and multimedia operations that featured Giorgia Rossi, Giuseppe Pastore, Federica Zille and Andrew Howe, along with all the Olympic medallists live on air in “Face to Face - Olympic Edition” and on demand in “Inside Olympics”, formats that will return in a new form in 2025.

"Paris 2024 once again proved that Italy has a great passion for all sports", explained Alessandro Nizegorodcew, director of SportFace. "It’s a passion we want to support with programming that gives every sport visibility, attention and dignity throughout the entire four-year Olympic cycle. This has been our stated mission since 2016". This masthead Sportface.it, which has been serving fans of all sports for nine years, will be the engine behind the OTT platform, enabling a continuous exchange of news and in-depth coverage.

"Thanks to the commitment of Nexting and the trust and support of CDP Venture Capital and all our major investors", concluded Daniele Palizzotto, co-founder of SportFace, "a new player with big ambitions has emerged in the world of Italian sports journalism".