sports betting wagering 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 innovation teams is starting once again with a brand-new firm - and has actually secured the biggest preliminary financial investment of any British start-up business.

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

The new firm has seed financing of $21m.
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It aims to launch a new open source software application platform, on which others can innovate in sports betting wagering, in the first half of next year.

The business is recruiting personnel from a base in Scotland.

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

However, Mr Eccles and other co-founders remain in legal conflict with FanDuel's later stage financiers over the method which they structured a takeover, which left the Edinburgh group without a share of the rising valuation.
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Mr Eccles said that a person thing he learned from the FanDuel experience was to pick investors thoroughly.

He told BBC Scotland: "We took a great deal of lessons from that, one of which was the value of who we select as investors in this brand-new company, to ensure their values are lined up with ours, that they take their fiduciary tasks 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, including 2 large funds - Paradigm and FTX - which specialise in buying companies operating with crypto-currencies.

Varun Sudhakar, chief executive of BetDEX, stated: "The sports betting wagering industry charges high costs for poor items and limitations trades by its most successful users.

"BetDEX is diametrically opposed to this technique. We will successfully compete against incumbents with a considerably exceptional item and low charges, which is now possible with the introduction of the blockchain technology."

As chairman of the new firm, Mr Eccles stated it might look familiar to retail punters used to existing online firms.

'Pool of skill'

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

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

The company will establish its own wagering apps to run on the platform.

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

He stated the team of around 500 software engineers who helped build FanDuel from Scotland showed that it remains the location to build a company. BetDEX has the same head of technology, Stuart Tonner.

"A great deal of that [FanDuel] success was developed on a highly skilled, extremely gifted engineering team, that developed this product that might of bets and countless users.

"There's a real skill pool of knowledgeable engineers who helped us construct our product and that's what we desire to take advantage of for BetDEX also."

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Edinburgh

Sports betting

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FanDuel creator leaves company
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Published

20 November 2017
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