YinzCam, Inc. is a privately-held company based in Pittsburgh, PA, and is a spin-off from Carnegie Mellon University. YinzCam's products allow teams to leverage their digital-media assets to generate additional revenue and drive additional online traffic to team sites, while providing their fans with new engaging in-game experiences on their own smartphones or on displays in the suites. The company's experiential mobile and suite products let fans choose the live camera angles (Follow Cam, Bench Cam, Red-Zone Cam) they want to watch, create their own replays, capture their moments in their personal digital game diary, and much more. YinzCam was recognized by NetworkWorld on their 2009 list of Top 10 Sports Technologies to Love.
the back-storyPriya Narasimhan, YinzCam, Inc.'s founder and CEO, moved to Pittsburgh, PA, in 2001. She had been a casual sports fan until that point when she fell hard for the city's sports teams, becoming a die-hard hockey and football fan for life.
Priya talks about how she first came up with the idea for YinzCam, "I became a huge Pittsburgh Penguins fan, and used to get nose-bleed seats at home games. There would always be a tall guy who cut off my view of the goal or fight. I never got to see the key moments of the game to my satisfaction. Also, when the replays were finally shown on the jumbotron, it was always from one particular angle. In fact, my view on my couch at home was often better, but I really wanted to experience the excitement of the game with all of the noise, the adrenalin, the spirit and the fervor of thousands of fans. I got to thinking--wouldn't it be great if I could be at the game but still see the game the way I wanted to? If I could follow my favorite player, when he was on the ice? If I could see a goalie's face up close when he made a spectacular save?"
Partnering up with the Pittsburgh Penguins, who were seeking innovative technologies for their new arena, the Consol Energy Center, Priya and her team piloted YinzCam through the 2008-9 NHL season, including the Stanley Cup Finals, at Mellon Arena. The overwhelmingly enthusiastic reception of fans to YinzCam's mobile experience led to the company's formation and expansion into other sports teams.
As Priya emphasizes, "YinzCam truly is technology built by fans, for fans."
the team
Priya Narasimhan, Founder, CEO, President
Priya has over 15 years of experience in the mobile, embedded and distributed technology space. She holds a doctorate in computer engineering, has published over 100 peer-reviewed scientific articles and has won many awards, including the Alfred Sloan Fellowship, the Carnegie Science Center's Emerging Female Scientist Award, and more. She is a serial entrepreneur, with YinzCam, Inc. being her third startup company.
Rajeev Gandhi, Founder, CTO
Rajeev has over 15 years of experience in the mobile and video technology space. He holds a doctorate in computer engineering, and won Motorola's Outstanding Performance Award for his global standardization efforts on the H.264 video compression standard. He holds multiple patents in the area of video compression.
