Bluestone Equity Partners has invested $20 million in Qloo, the cultural AI company backed by Leonardo DiCaprio and Elton John.
The transaction closed last week. Before the Bluestone investment, Qloo had raised $57 million in funding, according to Crunchbase. Investors include AI Ventures, AXA Venture Partners, as well as DiCaprio and John. Qloo’s valuation was not disclosed, while customers include Netflix, Starbucks, Universal Music Group, and Michelin.
Founded in 2012, Qloo uses a database of more than 575 million touch points, plus a second database of 10 trillion consumer signals, to predict consumer sentiment and taste all over the world. Employees, not including TasteDive, number north of 50, said Alex Elias, Qloo cofounder and CEO.
The $20 million investment from Bluestone is the second time this year that Qloo has raised money. The New York firm collected $25 million in February. “We’re in a strong position from a balance sheet perspective, and this allows us to look at some opportunistic M&A,” Elias told Coins2Day. In 2019, Qloo scooped up TasteDive, a cultural recommendation engine.
Qloo plans to use part of the funding to release a less technical, self-service interface at the beginning of the third quarter, Elias said. Qloo also expects to grow into new markets, with plans to “expand in a conservative way into sports and live events,” Elias noted. Sports teams can use Qloo to drive more ticket sales, pinpoint who would be interested in their events, and increase merchandising sales, he said. “All the value that could accrue from a much more nuanced understanding of fans tastes and preferences.” Ticketmaster is currently a client, and Qloo soon plans to announce that a large sports team is a customer, he said.
Qloo’s strategy fits right in with Bluestone, a growth equity firm that targets deals in the sports, media, and entertainment sectors.
Bluestone was founded in 2023 by Bobby Sharma, a well-known sports executive who is a former VP and general counsel for the NBA development league, a.k.a. The G League. He is also an ex-SVP, global head of basketball and strategic initiatives, at IMG, the sports, fashion, and media company owned by Endeavor.
Companies can use Qloo to be more efficient. For example, Epic Pictures used Qloo to decide where to distribute niche films based on taste factors. Equinox, the gym franchise, wanted to expand into hospitality and used Qloo to understand the local market and select partnerships with restaurants. Qloo can also discern the music preferences of Yankees fans who drink a certain type of beer, Sharma said. This information would help the Yankees offer home games advertised with that particular music, or provide targeted music-related ads, or sponsor a music festival for that genre, Sharma said.
Qloo’s technology provides “a more detailed profile of a consumer so that you understand more accurately where to find them from a marketing perspective,” Sharma told Coins2Day.
Qloo is the fourth investment for Bluestone’s first fund, which raised $300 million in February 2023. The pool is more than one-third invested. Bluestone is expected to close its second fund later this year, noted a person familiar with the firm. Bluestone has been busy in its brief, 16-month existence. The firm has looked at over 800 deals, struck letters of intent with 12 companies, and completed investments in four, including Qloo, Sharma said.
Bluestone has a minority stake in Qloo, Elias said. “They’ve been amazing partners even in leading up to the investment … We almost see them as an extension of the team at this point.”