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Sports betting innovator launches new start-up
17 November 2021
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By Douglas Fraser
Business and economy editor, Scotland
One of Scotland's most effective technology groups is starting again with a new company - and has secured the greatest preliminary financial investment of any British start-up business.
BetDEX is being led by Nigel Eccles, who co-founded fantasy sports betting website FanDuel in 2009 in Edinburgh.
The new firm has seed financing of $21m.
It aims to introduce a brand-new open source software application platform, on which others can innovate in sports betting, in the first half of next year.
The business is hiring staff from a base in Scotland.
FanDuel was offered to Flutter - previously named Paddy Power Betfair - in 2018 and is now worth more than $30bn.
However, Mr Eccles and other co-founders are in legal conflict with FanDuel's later phase financiers over the way in which they structured a takeover, which left the Edinburgh team without a share of the increasing appraisal.
Mr Eccles said that one thing he found out from the FanDuel experience was to pick financiers thoroughly.
He told BBC Scotland: "We took a lot of lessons from that, one of which was the value of who we select as financiers in this brand-new company, to guarantee their worths are lined up with ours, that they take their fiduciary responsibilities properly, which they're the right partners for us."
The $21m seed financing for BetDEX consists of stakes taken by seven backers of US innovation companies, consisting of 2 big funds - Paradigm and FTX - which specialise in purchasing business running with crypto-currencies.
Varun Sudhakar, president of BetDEX, stated: "The sports betting wagering industry charges high costs for poor products and limits trades by its most effective users.
"BetDEX is diametrically opposed to this technique. We will effectively contend against incumbents with a markedly exceptional product and low charges, which is now possible with the of the blockchain innovation."
As chairman of the brand-new company, Mr Eccles stated it might look familiar to retail punters utilized to existing online firms.
'Pool of skill'
However, he says that those who use its platform to run their own wagering companies will have the ability to innovate and produce a larger series of sports betting products.
He said the typical share taken by online bookies is 7% to 10% of a stake, but BetDEX ought to enable 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" approach to the way they are marketed to protect those who have a hard time with issue gambling.
He said the group of around 500 software engineers who assisted develop FanDuel from Scotland showed that it remains the location to build a firm. BetDEX has the exact same head of technology, Stuart Tonner.
"A great deal of that [FanDuel] success was built on a highly knowledgeable, very gifted engineering team, that constructed this item that could process countless bets and countless users.
"There's a genuine talent swimming pool of skilled engineers who helped us build our item which's what we wish to utilize for BetDEX also."
Related subjects
Edinburgh
Sports betting
More on this story
Paddy Power purchases dream sports betting site
23 May 2018
FanDuel founder leaves business
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Published
20 November 2017
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Sports Betting Innovator Launches new Start-up
elizbethbeahm edited this page 2025-01-02 19:49:56 +08:00