Funding Archives

January 19, 2024

Waterhouse VC: A year in review

In his first column of the year, Tom Waterhouse of Waterhouse VC looks back at the ups and downs of 2023 – and discusses what lies ahead in 2024.

While company valuations broadly increased in 2023, there was significant divergence across geographies and sectors. With the increase in interest rates globally, investors have grown more selective, preferring to invest in profitable businesses.

Waterhouse VC’s gross performance, as at 31 December 2023

Performance of various asset classes and sectors in 2023. Source: Topdown Charts, Refinitiv Datastream

In 2023, there were two stand out contributors to the fund’s +39.5% performance:

Project Tennis – a professional betting syndicate founded by Tom Dry focused on tennis. It was first discussed in December 2022 and invested in on 1 July 2023.Saintly – a crypto wagering operator and B2B platform. Position exited in August 2023.

Beating the house

We are very pleased with the operational performance of Tom Dry’s betting syndicate going into..

August 22, 2023

Commission-free exchange Novig raises $6.4m in pre-seed round

Commission-free sports betting exchange Novig has raised $6.4m (£5.0m/€5.9m) in a pre-seed funding round from a number of well-known tech investors.

New York-based firm Lux Capital led the investment round into Novig, with participation from several prominent Silicon Valley venture capitalists.

These include famous start-up accelerator Y Combinator, the inventor of the Lisp programming language Paul Graham and Dropbox co-founder Arash Ferdowsi. Also investing is former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Joe Montana.

Novig CEO Jacob Fortinsky said the business was “honoured” to have the support of the tech investors.

novig ceo jacob fortinsky

“Our vision is clear: to reshape the sports betting landscape that has long favoured exploitation over innovation and to usher in an era of integrity, transparency and empowerment,” he added. “Together, we’re rewriting the rules and putting the power back in the hands of bettors.”

Novig plans October launch date

Novig completed the investment r..

January 25, 2023

How crypto could be embedded in online betting

Tom Waterhouse of WaterhouseVC revisits the subject of crypto wagering, and whether it could be central to next-gen sportsbook platforms.

In May, we discussed the significant opportunity in crypto betting, which is growing gross gaming revenue (GGR) at 36.6% per annum.

Online crypto operators have a similar user experience to online fiat operators. The likes of Stake.com and Sportsbet.io already record extraordinary turnover.

White label platform solutions for crypto betting operators are leveraged to the growth of crypto wagering as a whole. This means they are not exposed to the operational and regulatory risk of a single crypto wagering business.

Global crypto wagering data for total bets and GGR. Source: Softswiss.

Existing wagering platforms

Many fiat operators rely on white label sportsbook and igaming platform solutions, such as Kambi, OpenBet and SBTech.

A selection of white label sportsbook and iGaming platforms built for fiat operators. Source: Waterhouse VC.

Howev..

November 7, 2022

Analysts divided on potential value of FanDuel IPO after court ruling

Analysts are divided on the value that may come from a potential FanDuel IPO, after a court ruling left the hopes of a potential spin-off for the US market leader up in the air.

The reactions come following a New York court ruling that media giant Fox must pay $4.16bn if it wishes to acquire a 18.6% stake in FanDuel, which is owned by Flutter Entertainment

While the court ruling settled the question of the value of the stake that Fox had the option to buy, it left the question of a FanDuel spin-off up in the air until next year. The tribunal will determine early next year the conditions under which Fox may be able to participate in a FanDuel IPO, which Flutter had raised the prospect of before the legal dispute began.

Analysts at Barclays said that this factor was “dampening the enthusiasm” of the main ruling.

“The path to a FanDuel IPO is not yet clear with Fox stating that ‘Flutter cannot pursue an IPO for FanDuel without Fox’s consent or approval from the arbitrator’,” Barclays ..

October 26, 2022

Catering to the next generation

Tom Waterhouse’s latest betting investment column examines social betting, which he sees as a key way to engage younger audiences.

As discussed in our January 2022 newsletter, wagering apps have maintained a consistent information architecture for decades, typically structuring their layout by featuring promotions at the top, then providing some high level navigation to the most popular sports and major racing codes.

We have a particular focus on companies that are revolutionising this traditional user interface and the broader user experience. In January, we discussed Voxbet, a voice and text to bet business, which bettors can use directly through Viber, Telegram and other popular messaging services, thus circumventing the need to bet through a bookmaker’s website/app.

Social betting

Another way that bookmakers can appeal to a younger, digital-native generation of bettors is by promoting the social aspect of betting.

Bettors have always discussed their top picks with their frien..

September 7, 2022

Betegy to ramp up US push following Yolo investment

Betegy has closed an investment round led by Yolo Investments – the venture capital arm of the Yolo Group, which operates the Sportsbet.io brand.

Betegy – which provides data visualisations, automated on-air and retail graphics, and casino marketing assets to operators – intends to use the funds to continue its scaling in the US. The announcement follows a previous funding round led by JKR Investment Group, which was announced in 2020.

iGB spoke to both Betegy founder and chief executive Alex Kornilov, and Yolo Investments founder and GP Tim Heath to discuss the deal and how Betegy plans to further adapt its products for the US market, and the startup funding sector as a whole.

What encouraged you to invest in the business; what do you think that Betegy brings to the market that wasn’t on offer before?

TH: Betegy’s great innovation is to automate the previously time-consuming process of turning reams of data into world-class content. We know the product works because it’s been succ..

July 12, 2022

888 raises €700m to pay off William Hill debts

Online gambling operator 888 will raise €700m through a notes issue related to its acquisition of William Hill’s non-US business, despite reports last week that banks had struggled to sell on its debts.

The business will offer €400m worth of notes with an aggregate principal of 7.558%, due in 2027 plus €300m at a floating interest rate, due in 2028.

These notes form part of a wider financing plan as part of the operator’s recent £1.95bn acquisition of William Hill’s non-US business, also including revolving credit facilities and bonds.

These bonds, though, were subject to some uncertainty. 888 had issued the bonds underwritten by banking giants JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley. These banks then intended to sell the bonds onward to investors, but allegedly found little appetite amid ongoing uncertainty related to the Gambling Act review, which is set to have a very large impact on 888 due to its large exposure to Great Britain.

A white paper, a key next stage of the review, was expected ..

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Tag: Funding