Sportsvite.com Completes First Round of Financing; Private Deal Follows Two Important Awards for the Company

Sportsvite (www.sportsvite.com), a web service for recreational athletes, teams, and leagues, has secured up to $2 million in its first round of financing from Grace Drive Management, an alternative investment fund based in New York. The financing was arranged by [212]MEDIA (www.212media.com), the parent company of Sportsvite, which owns and operates a portfolio of new media ventures in social media, content distribution, online gaming and publishing. [212]MEDIA works with major media companies such as Time Warner, Google and MTV.

NEW YORK, NY (PRWEB) February 13, 2007 -- Sportsvite (www.sportsvite.com), a web service for recreational athletes, teams, and leagues, has secured up to $2 million in its first round of financing from Grace Drive Management, an alternative investment fund based in New York. The financing was arranged by [212]MEDIA (www.212media.com), the parent company of Sportsvite, which owns and operates a portfolio of new media ventures in social media, content distribution, online gaming and publishing. [212]MEDIA works with major media companies such as Time Warner, Google and MTV.

"The Sportsvite community has grown rapidly without an investment in marketing. This funding will help us to actively target millions of athletes worldwide who play sports," said Sportsvite Co-Founder and [212]MEDIA Managing Partner Vinodh Bhat.

The investment comes after two important Internet-business awards for the Sportsvite web service. In December, the website was named "Hot for 2007" in the Sports & Fitness category by Mashable.com, a popular blog focused exclusively on social networks. Earlier in 2006, Sportsvite was designated as an Official Honoree by the Webby Awards, the leading international honors for Web sites.

"We have confidence in Sportsvite's business plan and are impressed with what the team has provided to its members without external financing," said Judgee Singh, Managing Director of Grace Drive Management.

On Sportsvite, members set up athletic profiles that detail their sports and recreational activities. The free service offers two benefits: a social network that builds connections between players, teams and leagues with similar interests and skills; and a platform for organizing every aspect of sports games and activities - from practices to pick-up games to ongoing league competitions.

"We tap into the passion of recreational athletes and simplify the process of organizing sports," Mr. Bhat said.

The recreational sports market has been the focus of several recent transactions and joint ventures involving large media companies. Among them were a Sports Illustrated venture with a social network focusing on high school athletes, which was announced in December. Nike and Google launched a social network devoted to soccer fans last spring.

Sportsvite's founders are based in New York City and the Washington DC area. The company has a staff of ten people whose experience includes work in new media, online marketing and sports management.

For more information please contact Keith Emmer at 212-920-9205.

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