Capturing a Virtual Mosaic of Content

The Force is with local entrepreneur Kanaan Jemili.

The chairman, co-founder and CEO of Visaic, Inc., a company focused on innovation in video delivery and large media projects, has a unique perspective and background that has played a role in his career in technology and engineering.

Jemili is from Tunisia, North Africa, a country known for its rich history, beautiful beaches, exotic cuisine and what some consider the best olive oil in the world. Tunisia has also been the setting for the filming of four “Star Wars” movies, and is the home of the fictional desert planet Tatooine.

“I was always fascinated by the entertainment industry and the technologies behind it,” said Jemili, 58, an avowed Star Wars fan and EvoNexus board member. “As a young adult, I gravitated towards audio and video technologies and engineering.”

The company’s name Vi-Saic is short for Video Mosaic, he said, “given that mosaics have been used throughout history to tell stories and capture the attention of audiences.” Visaic is a privately held Delaware Corporation, headquartered in San Diego, with offices in Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Bulgaria and Ukraine.

An AI-enabled sports and entertainment engagement platform for digital content delivery and monetization, Visaic was founded by Jemili and Abhishek Shivadas in September 2019 and has a team of 30 that offer a market-proven SaaS solution, applying machine learning and data IQ on its content platform for organizations looking to directly engage grow and monetize their audiences, Jemili said.

“We have created an innovative business model providing content rights holders with advanced solutions to lower costs, increase distribution, capture valuable data, and drive revenue for entertainment and sports brands, teams, leagues, federations and university conferences,” he said.

In addition, Visaic powers a unique cloud solution to deliver live sporting events and concerts into a footprint of more than 1,500 theaters across North America. Since that solution launched in early 2021, Visaic has delivered events from top sports brands like Ultimate Fighting Championship, All Elite Wrestling, Triller (video sharing social network) and Blizzard Entertainment (e-gaming), as well as live concerts for Coldplay, BTS, Metallica and other artists.

Traditional Models Posing a Challenge

The traditional business models and ways that audiences consume content continue to change and cause challenges across the industry, says Visaic Chief Commercial Officer Jesse Beaudin.

“For sports properties there is more risk to manage than ever before because of these failed models,” Beaudin said. “Visaic helps to reduce that risk by providing the tools and modern technology solutions needed to quickly compete and adapt to this ever-changing market. Whether it’s flexible monetization, enhanced viewing experiences, content rights management, built in highlight clipping, or automated marketing and promotional capabilities, Visaic’s turn-key solution includes everything a team, league or federation would need to go to market under their own brand to manage, control, and monetize their content while delivering an engaging experience for their fans wherever they may be.”

Early in his career, Jemili joined an audio tech startup in Boston which later merged with a California-based company, landing him in San Diego about 20 years ago.

In 2014, he was named CEO of DivX, a pioneering video technology company in San Diego he started with in 2006. DivX partnered with major Hollywood studios and large technology and consumer electronics organizations in the U.S. and abroad. At DivX, he worked to expand the product set to live streaming and 4K, and delivered the first 4K National Basketball Association game in late 2014 from London to the U.S.

DivX was then acquired by a public company NeuLion, now known as Endeavor Streaming. As CEO of NeuLion, Jemili managed technology and streaming services from the largest brands in sports, including the NBA, UFC, the National Football League, Premiere League (English football) and ESPN.

In 2019, along with other colleagues, Jemili said he “saw large trends in the sports and entertainment market, driven mainly by the shift away from traditional broadcast and also the consolidation at the top of the technology market, and creating a large underserved market in sports and other entertainment categories.”

Women’s Sports, Soccer, New Types of Competition

He said they also saw a rise in women’s sports, a rise in the popularity of soccer in North America, and the proliferation of myriad new types of sports and competition not covered by traditional channels of distribution, and that’s what led to the start of Visaic in 2019.

“(It was founded) specifically to address the needs of many sports organizations and content providers to reach and grow their audience and to monetize their content in the best way possible,” Jemili said. “Our goals were to build a data- and AI-driven content distribution solution to help sports and entertainment brands thrive; launch several brands on the platform to prove the market fit; and grow the adoption and revenue. We have accomplished the two first goals and are now focused on the growth of the company.”

Up until the end of September 2023, the company had been self-funded and grew with the revenue it generated. In the last quarter of 2023, Visaic raised its first round of funding of about $1 million to fuel its marketing and business development efforts in 2024. Jemili said Visaic’s plan is to double its revenue in 2024.

“We are very active in North America,” he said. “We like the fact that San Diego is a hub for many sports teams: women’s soccer, men’s soccer, rugby, ice hockey, baseball, cricket, volleyball, etc. We will also be growing in Canada and Europe this year.”

He said Visaic is currently working with mobile carriers on launching a new initiative that has the potential to bring in several million subscribers onto its platform. It has reached an aggregate half a million subscribers on the platform, from the different branded services its runs, “and we would like to be at 1.5 to 2 million subscribers by the end of 2024.”

Defining Moment in 2023

The company had one of its most defining moments early in 2023, he said, with “the chance and challenge” to stream more than 800 ice hockey events over the period of two weeks.

“It was an all-hands-on-deck situation, and was a very successful outcome,” Jemili said. “That prompted more innovation, and our platform is consistently handling many thousands of events.”

Beaudin, who also worked at DivX and NeuLion, said he sees this year being a breakout year for Visaic, and cited the company being “well positioned to help content rights owners and sports properties manage challenges they are currently experiencing in a turbulent market.”

The Visaic Interactive Platform (VIP) is purpose built for sports which allows teams, leagues, federations and conferences to go to market quickly and affordably, he said.

“VIP is especially well suited for newer leagues and federations that are emerging around the world who need to quickly establish sustainable business models (and) build an audience for themselves, as well as understand and own that audience in order to grasp what their current or potential value could be,” Beaudin said.

Visaic, Inc.

FOUNDED: 2019
CEO: Kanaan Jemili
HEADQUARTERS: Scripps Ranch
BUSINESS: AI enabled video technology
REVENUE: $2.5 million (2023)
EMPLOYEES: 30
WEBSITE: visaic.com
CONTACT: info@visaic.com
SOCIAL IMPACT: Individual employees are involved in charity work throughout San Diego county
NOTABLE: Jemili grew up in Tunisia, North Africa, the setting for the filming of several Star Wars movies