Sports betting innovator launches brand-new start-up
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17 November 2021

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By Douglas Fraser
bit.ly
Business and economy editor, Scotland

One of Scotland’s most successful innovation groups is starting again with a brand-new firm - and has secured the greatest initial investment of any British start-up business.
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BetDEX is being led by Nigel Eccles, who co-founded fantasy sports betting wagering site FanDuel in 2009 in Edinburgh.

The brand-new company has seed funding of $21m.

It aims to release a new open source software platform, on which others can innovate in sports betting wagering, in the very first half of next year.

The company is recruiting personnel from a base in Scotland.
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FanDuel was sold to Flutter - formerly named Paddy Power Betfair - in 2018 and is now worth more than $30bn.

However, Mr Eccles and other co-founders are in legal disagreement with FanDuel’s later phase investors over the method which they structured a takeover, which left the Edinburgh team without a share of the increasing assessment.

Mr Eccles stated that one thing he gained from the FanDuel experience was to select financiers carefully.

He told BBC Scotland: “We took a great deal of lessons from that, among which was the importance of who we choose as financiers in this brand-new company, to ensure their worths are aligned with ours, that they take their fiduciary responsibilities responsibly, which they’re the best partners for us.”

The $21m seed funding for BetDEX includes stakes taken by seven backers of US innovation companies, consisting of 2 large funds - Paradigm and FTX - which specialise in purchasing business operating with crypto-currencies.

Varun Sudhakar, president of BetDEX, stated: “The sports betting wagering industry charges high costs for bad products and limitations trades by its most effective users.

“BetDEX is diametrically opposed to this technique. We will effectively complete versus incumbents with a markedly remarkable product and low costs, which is now possible with the development of the blockchain technology.”
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As chairman of the new firm, Mr Eccles stated it could look familiar to retail punters used to existing online companies.

‘Pool of talent’

However, he states that those who utilize its platform to run their own sports betting firms will be able to innovate and develop a larger series of sports betting products.

He stated the common share taken by online bookies is 7% to 10% of a stake, but BetDEX should permit for that to fall listed below 1%.

The company will develop its own sports betting apps to operate on the platform.

Mr Eccles said these would take an “smart, thoughtful” method to the method they are marketed to safeguard those who struggle with problem sports betting.

He stated the team of around 500 software engineers who assisted construct FanDuel from Scotland revealed that it remains the place to develop a company. BetDEX has the exact same head of innovation, Stuart Tonner.

“A great deal of that [FanDuel] success was built on an extremely skilled, really gifted engineering team, that built this item that could of bets and millions of users.

“There’s a genuine skill pool of knowledgeable engineers who helped us develop our product which’s what we desire to utilize for BetDEX too.”

Related topics

Edinburgh

sports betting wagering

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Paddy Power purchases dream sports betting site

23 May 2018

FanDuel creator leaves business

Published

20 November 2017
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