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 successful technology teams is beginning once again with a brand-new company - and has actually protected the biggest initial financial investment of any British start-up company.

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

The new firm has seed funding of $21m.

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

The company is hiring staff from a base in Scotland.

FanDuel was offered to Flutter - previously called Paddy Power Betfair - in 2018 and is now worth more than $30bn.

However, Mr Eccles and other co-founders remain in legal dispute with FanDuel's later phase financiers over the method which they structured a takeover, which left the Edinburgh group without a share of the rising assessment.

Mr Eccles said that one thing he learned from the FanDuel experience was to select investors thoroughly.

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 new company, to guarantee their values are aligned with ours, that they take their fiduciary responsibilities properly, and that they're the ideal partners for us."

The $21m seed financing for BetDEX consists of stakes taken by seven backers of US innovation companies, consisting of 2 large funds - Paradigm and FTX - which specialise in buying companies running with .

Varun Sudhakar, primary executive of BetDEX, stated: "The sports betting industry charges high rates for poor items and limits trades by its most successful users.

"BetDEX is diametrically opposed to this method. We will effectively compete against incumbents with a markedly remarkable product and low charges, which is now possible with the advent of the blockchain technology."

As chairman of the brand-new firm, Mr Eccles stated it might look familiar to retail punters utilized to existing online companies.

'Pool of talent'

However, he says that those who use its platform to run their own wagering companies will have the ability to innovate and develop a larger series of sports betting products.

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

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

Mr Eccles said these would take an "smart, thoughtful" approach to the way they are marketed to safeguard those who fight with problem sports betting.

He said the group of around 500 software engineers who helped develop FanDuel from Scotland showed that it stays the location to construct a firm. BetDEX has the same head of technology, Stuart Tonner.

"A lot of that [FanDuel] success was constructed on a highly skilled, very talented engineering group, that developed this item that might process countless bets and millions of users.

"There's a real talent pool of knowledgeable engineers who assisted us build our product and that's what we wish to take advantage of for BetDEX also."

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More on this story

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23 May 2018

FanDuel founder leaves company
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Published

20 November 2017