Bluestone Equity Partners has invested $20 million into Qloo, a cultural AI company backed by Leonardo DiCaprio and Elton John.
The deal closed last week. Prior to Bluestone’s investment, Qloo had raised $57 million in funding, according to Crunchbase. Investors included AI Ventures, AXA Venture Partners, and DiCaprio and John. Qloo’s valuation was not disclosed, but customers include Netflix, Starbucks, Universal Music Group, and Michelin.
Founded in 2012, Qloo uses a database of more than 575 million touchpoints and a second database of 10 trillion consumer signals to predict consumer sentiment and preferences around the world. Excluding TasteDive, the company has more than 50 employees, said Alex Elias, co-founder and CEO of Qloo.
The $20 million investment from Bluestone marks Qloo’s second funding this year. The New York company raised $25 million in February. “We are in a strong position from a balance sheet perspective, which allows us to look at opportunistic M&A,” Elias said. luck. In 2019, Qloo acquired TasteDive, a cultural recommendation engine.
Qloo plans to use some of the funding to launch a less technical, self-service interface early in the third quarter, Elias said. Qloo also looks to expand into new markets, with plans to “conservatively move into sports and live events,” Elias noted. Sports teams can use Qloo to increase ticket sales, identify people interested in their events and increase merchandise sales, he said. “There’s all this value in understanding fan tastes and preferences in a more granular way.” Currently, Ticketmaster is a customer, and Qloo plans to announce major sports teams as customers soon, Elias said.
Qloo’s strategy fits neatly into Bluestone, a growth equity firm that targets deals in the sports, media and entertainment sectors.
Bluestone was founded in 2023 by renowned sports executive Bobby Sharma, former vice president and chief advisor of the NBA Developmental League (also known as the G League). Sharma is also the former SVP, global head of basketball and strategic initiatives at IMG, the sports, fashion and media company owned by Endeavor.
Companies can use Qloo to create efficiencies. For example, Epic Pictures used Qloo to determine where to distribute niche films based on preference factors. Gym franchise Equinox, wanting to expand into the hospitality sector, used Qloo to understand local markets and select restaurant partnerships. Qloo can also determine the music preferences of Yankees fans who drink certain types of beer, Sharma said. This information could help the Yankees promote home games with that specific music, serve targeted music-related ads or sponsor music festivals in that genre, Sharma said.
Qloo’s technology “gives us a more detailed profile of the consumer, allowing us to better understand where they are from a marketing perspective,” Sharma said. luck.
Qloo marks the fourth investment for Bluestone’s first fund, which raised $300 million in February 2023. More than a third of the investment has been invested. A person familiar with the firm said Bluestone plans to close its second fund later this year. Bluestone has been busy in the short 16 months since it was founded. The firm has explored more than 800 deals, signed letters of intent with 12 companies and completed investments in four, including Qloo, Sharma said.
Bluestone holds a minority stake in Qloo, Elias said, “and they’ve been a great partner leading up to the investment. We view them as an extension of our team at this point.”
