BetDEX secures biggest-ever seed round for a British startup
FanDuel co-founder Nigel Eccles’ new startup BetDex has raised $21m in its latest investment round.
UK.- BetDEX, the open-source blockchain-powered sports betting exchange led by FanDuel co-founder Nigel Eccles, has secured the biggest-ever seed round for a UK startup. It raised $21m in its latest investment round, which was led by San Francisco-based crypto investment firm Paradigm.
Multicoin Capital, Hack VC, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Sino Global Capital, Solana Ventures and Everblue Management also participated in the investment round. BetDEX now plans to scale the business from a base in Scotland and is now hiring for a range of positions.
Built on the Solana public blockchain, it describes itself as the world’s first decentralised sports betting protocol. It says it will offer extremely fast and low-cost trade while eliminating counterparty risk. The protocol will be fully decentralized and open-source, allowing third parties to build their own applications and innovate on top of the platform.
Executive appointments at BetDEX
BetDEX plans to accept wagers in USDT, SOL and SAMO at launch. It has appointed Eccles as non-executive chair, while Varun Sudhakar has been appointed CEO and Stuart Tonner CTO.
Eccles co-founded FanDuel in 2009, with the company going on to become Scotland’s first $1bn dollar-valued startup before its acquisition by Flutter in 2018. It’s now estimated to be worth around $30bn. Tonner was the first engineer hired by FanDuel and spent more than eight years with the company, building the core FanDuel platform.
Sudhakar began his career in investment banking in Silicon Valley and worked with Eccles in senior strategy and corporate development roles at FanDuel between 2015 and 2018, before going on to senior executive positions at other venture-backed startups in New York.
Eccles said: “Blockchain technology is set to revolutionise sports betting and we want to be at the forefront of that. It’s exciting to be founding the business with Varun and Stuart, and to be building it in Scotland. We are energized to have the backing and wealth of expertise that comes with having Paradigm and FTX as cornerstone investors.”
Sudhakar said: “The sports betting industry charges high prices for poor products and limits trades by its most successful users. BetDEX is diametrically opposed to this approach, we will successfully compete against incumbents with a markedly superior product and low fees, which is now possible with the advent of blockchain technology. Winners will always be welcome on our protocol.”
Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO and Founder of FTX, said: “We are thrilled to be backing a team with deep industry expertise to transform the sports betting experience. It is mind-boggling that more sports wagering does not occur on exchanges – we firmly believe in giving consumers the ability and control to set their own price and are excited to partner with BetDEX to bring this vision to fruition.”
Arjun Balaji, investment partner at Paradigm, said: “It feels obvious crypto will transform online sports betting. DeFi has shown how financial markets can be automated and distributed to the benefit of consumers. Crypto can do the same for all other kinds of financial activities, including betting. The BetDEX team has the right combination of industry experience and technical skill to create something that shows the way forward for everyone working in the space.”
See also: Flutter expects to lose £50m due to block on Dutch gamblers
