Alibaba forays into sports, backs Chinese sports data firm LeidaSports

Alibaba Group Holdings is venturing into sports.

The Chinese e-commerce giant recently announced that it has teamed up with Handnice Group to invest $1.5 million in a China-based digital sports data company, GGRAsia reported

The company is called LeidaSports, and it provides information—mainly sports data—as well as betting services. LeidaSports plans to merge with digital application operator, Sports Craze, a Chinese company that claims to have more than five million active users, according to the report, which quoted a press release.

Under the partnership, LeidaSports and Sports Craze will supply “sports data and various content to sports content providers” across China, using data from sports and betting-related data company Sportradar AG, which has an existing partnership with LeidaSports.