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Sports betting innovator launches brand-new start-up
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17 November 2021
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By Douglas Fraser

Business and economy editor, Scotland

One of Scotland's most effective technology teams is beginning once again with a brand-new firm - and has secured the biggest initial 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 brand-new company has seed financing of $21m.

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

The company is recruiting personnel from a base in Scotland.

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

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

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

He informed BBC Scotland: "We took a lot of lessons from that, among which was the importance of who we pick as financiers in this new organization, to guarantee their worths are lined up with ours, that they take their fiduciary tasks responsibly, 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 firms, including 2 big funds - Paradigm and FTX - which specialise in purchasing companies operating with crypto-currencies.

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

"BetDEX is diametrically opposed to this approach. We will successfully compete versus incumbents with a noticeably remarkable item and low charges, which is now possible with the advent of the blockchain innovation."

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

'Pool of skill'

However, he says that those who utilize its platform to run their own wagering firms will be able to innovate and develop a wider range of sports betting products.

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

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

Mr Eccles said these would take an "intelligent, thoughtful" technique to the way they are marketed to protect those who have a hard time with problem gaming.

He said the group of around 500 software application engineers who helped build FanDuel from Scotland revealed that it stays the location to build a company. BetDEX has the very same head of technology, Stuart Tonner.
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"A lot of that [FanDuel] success was developed on a highly knowledgeable, really talented engineering team, that developed this product that might process countless bets and millions of users.

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

Related topics

Edinburgh

Sports betting

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