Today is a big day for Team Grabyo: we’re excited to announce New York Red Bulls star Thierry Henry, Premier League football stars Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie and current NBA champion Tony Parker as investors and global ambassadors.

Since launch just over a year ago, we’re already working with over 30 major broadcasters and rights holders – bringing consumers real-time highlights from some of the world’s biggest events in sport and music including FIFA World Cup, La Liga, Wimbledon, ATP World Tour, The Ryder Cup, UFC, UEFA Champions League and the BRIT Awards.

Our rapid growth is being driven by accelerating customer demand and ongoing momentum in social video and mobile video advertising – with Facebook and Twitter partnerships providing access to a digital audience running into the billions.

Star talent involvement will further drive our growth across Europe and North America as well as enable our partners to capitalise on the changing dynamics within the global media industry. From global sports stars and musicians, to Hollywood actors and supermodels, the number of famous faces with millions of highly engaged fans on social media is staggering. As more people are able to enjoy video across social platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, the involvement of star talent will open up new distribution opportunities for broadcasters, rights holders and brands.

Thierry Henry, New York Red Bulls

“Being away from London makes it harder to keep up with what’s happening in European football… Grabyo makes it easy for fans to follow the action by making the best moments available in an instant. I am looking forward to helping the company grow.”

Our customers now include some of the largest commercial broadcasters, including Sky, ITV and Channel 5 in the UK – who are experiencing significant increase in reach, engagement and video views since moving to native formats: auto expanded video with one click playout on Twitter and autoplay video in the newsfeed on Facebook.

Premium rights holders recognise the value of making content available wherever their customers spend their time, which is increasingly on social platforms via a mobile device. Meanwhile, brands increasingly want to align with premium video content and engage consumers at scale. As a result, video, mobile and social are the most important growth sectors of the global advertising industry – and Grabyo sits across all three.

We’re excited – and would like to thank all of you who have helped us along our journey to get here, a journey which has only just begun…

Cesc Fabregas, Chelsea FC

“Videos and photos are my most popular posts on Twitter and Facebook… I am looking forward to working with Grabyo to bring video highlights to my fans in real time.”

Robin van Persie, Manchester United FC

“I’m pleased to be backing Grabyo to bring instant sports highlights to fans on social media. I’ve witnessed first hand the immediate response from fans when videos are shared on Facebook and Twitter.”

Tony Parker, San Antonio Spurs

“The fans are on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter – this is where the engagement is and brands want to be a part of that conversation,” comments Tony Parker of the San Antonio Spurs.”