Just days after taking up Israeli citizenship, Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is teaming up one of his local assets with the London soccer club.
Chelsea will use the services of Israeli startup Spot.IM, a social engagement platform that builds online communities around digital content, in order to drive conversations between the club’s fans.
Spot.IM is one of several Israeli startups in which Abramovich has holdings through the AltaIR VC fund in which he has invested through Millhouse LLC, his Moscow-based investment arm.
“Sports clubs are platforms for producing and creating content that they use for managing relations with fans,” said Spot.IM CEO Nadav Shoval. “The project we are carrying out for Chelsea will create an experience that will encourage people to react to exclusive content on the site and to create a conversation around it. Our platform will allow fans to register for the site with a profile and to react through the profile, enabling the fan community to recognize each other and strengthen ties in the digital world, unlike the case with anonymous talkbacks.”