sports betting wagering innovator launches new start-up
bet9ja.com
17 November 2021
bit.ly
Share

close panel

Share page

Copy link

About sharing

By Douglas Fraser

Business and economy editor, Scotland

One of Scotland's most successful innovation groups is beginning again with a brand-new firm - and has actually protected the greatest initial financial investment of any British start-up company.

BetDEX is being led by Nigel Eccles, who co-founded dream sports betting wagering site FanDuel in 2009 in Edinburgh.

The new company has seed financing of $21m.

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

The company is hiring staff from a base in Scotland.
bit.ly
FanDuel was sold 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 dispute with FanDuel's later stage financiers over the way in which they structured a takeover, which left the Edinburgh group without a share of the rising evaluation.

Mr Eccles stated that one thing he gained from the was to pick financiers thoroughly.

He told BBC Scotland: "We took a lot of lessons from that, among which was the value of who we select as financiers in this new company, to guarantee their worths are lined up with ours, that they take their fiduciary tasks properly, and that they're the right partners for us."

The $21m seed financing for BetDEX consists of stakes taken by seven backers of US technology companies, consisting of two large funds - Paradigm and FTX - which specialise in purchasing companies operating with crypto-currencies.

Varun Sudhakar, president of BetDEX, said: "The sports betting market charges high rates for bad items and limits trades by its most successful users.

"BetDEX is diametrically opposed to this technique. We will effectively compete versus incumbents with a considerably superior product and low charges, which is now possible with the advent of the blockchain technology."

As chairman of the brand-new company, Mr Eccles stated it could look familiar to retail punters used to existing online firms.

'Pool of talent'
bet9ja.com
However, he says that those who utilize its platform to run their own sports betting firms will be able to innovate and create a wider range of wagering items.

He stated the normal share taken by online bookies is 7% to 10% of a stake, but BetDEX ought to enable that to fall listed below 1%.

The business will establish its own sports betting apps to run on the platform.

Mr Eccles stated these would take an "smart, thoughtful" technique to the method they are marketed to protect those who fight with problem gambling.

He said the group of around 500 software application engineers who assisted construct FanDuel from Scotland showed that it remains the place to build a company. BetDEX has the exact same head of technology, Stuart Tonner.

"A great deal of that [FanDuel] success was constructed on an extremely competent, extremely gifted engineering group, that constructed this product that might process countless bets and millions of users.

"There's a genuine talent pool of skilled engineers who helped us build our item which's what we wish to take advantage of for BetDEX also."

Related topics

Edinburgh

sports betting wagering

More on this story
bet9ja.com
Paddy Power purchases fantasy sports betting site

23 May 2018

FanDuel creator leaves company

Published

20 November 2017
bet9ja.com