The initiative aims to address the opportunity given by the sports betting market in the U.S. following a 2018 Supreme Court decision that allowed all states to legalize sportsbooks.
Given this, innovative startups are launching and emerging with products, services, solutions and new betting sites to take the estimated $17 billion dollar opportunity that the hyper-competitive market represents.
SGIF will also provide portfolio companies with value to grant product fit and market access to differentiate themselves from competitors in the U.S. sports betting industry given the team experience with the regulatory process in almost every major U.S. jurisdiction, an insider’s view on the pain points for operators and suppliers, and direct access to decision-makers across the industry.
The management members of the fund includes:
– Chris Grove, Managing Partner. He is a partner at Eilers & Krejcik Gaming, heading the firm’s sports betting practice,
– David Sargeant, Managing Partner. He is the founder and CEO of iGaming Ideas, an international incubator for gambling startups, and sports betting consultant,
– Blaine Graboyes, Advisory Partner. He is the co-founder and CEO of gambling machine developer GameCo,
– Seth Schorr, Advisory Partner. He is the Chairman of Fifth Street Gaming and co-founder of the streaming media startup Konek TV, and
– SeventySix Capital, Advisory Partner, which brings years of fund management to the team and will assist with deal structure, vetting, and back office.
One of the disclosed backers of the fund is Jeremy Levine, the founder of multiple companies, including DRAFT, which was acquired by PaddyPower Betfair in 2017.
FinSMEs
03/10/2019