Oddin snares $4.5M in Series A funding
Sharpr is a weekly newsletter covering the intersection of esports and betting
Hey everyone, Cody here.
Quick heads up to my readers that I’ll be on medical leave for a few weeks, so you won’t hear from me until mid-September.
I appreciate everyone’s patience and continued support of Sharpr, and I want to take a quick moment to let you all know that during the downtime, we’ll be looking into ways to ramp up our weekly coverage and provide more exclusive content in the future. We’ll be back with a vengeance in a few weeks after a full recovery; thanks for sticking around and subscribing.
Loads of good developments in the sector this week, including Oddin’s $4.5M Series A raise and EBET confirming the layoffs Sharpr reported on last week. Lastly, we ask the ultimate question: is Microsoft Excel an esport? I’ll let the readers decide.
Thanks and see you all soon!
Cody
In this week’s edition of Sharpr…
Oddin snares $4.5M in Series A funding
EBET confirms sweeping layoffs, decreased focus on esports
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Oddin snares $4.5M in Series A funding
Esports odds provider Oddin has raised $4.5M in Series A funding, the company announced on Tuesday.
The $4.5M infusion was raised from Velo Partners, Genting Ventures, and existing investors.
Oddin says the funds will be used to strengthen the company’s current position and expand into new verticals.
The company claims it has a nearly nine-figure handle under management, and delivered a 6.7% average margin to clients in H1 2022.
The funding arrives on the heels of a strong 12 months, where Oddin secured key deals with the likes of Betway, LOOT.BET, Sports Information Services (SIS), Duelbits, and also started operating in New Jersey through a partnership with Esports Entertainment Group.
Oddin’s previous funding includes a $1.2M seed round raise in 2020, and an investment led by Alex Igelman, founder of Esports Capital Corp., and media technology investor Jeff Sagansky in March 2021.
🦈 Sharpr Take: Oddin was founded in 2018, but the last year has far-and-away been the most meaningful for the company.
Among the esports odds feed provider’s various B2B and B2C partners includes Betway, which Esports Insider Co-founder Sam Cooke described as “a major signal of intent” from an operator long considered a market leader in the esports betting space.
Apart from the quality of Oddin’s clientele, its retention has been strong, too. The company says it hasn’t lost a single client in the last three years, which has helped push them closer to profitability. As of July, Oddin reported that it broke even.
EBET confirms sweeping layoffs, decreased focus on esports
As first reported by Sharpr last week, EBET has since confirmed company layoffs, as well as a decreased focus on esports, in an effort to boost profitability.
The company has reduced its total number of employees and contractors by 54%.
EBET recorded an adjusted EBITDA loss of $4.7M in Q2, and an adjusted EBITDA loss of $4M for Q3.
Apart from layoffs, the company is “realigning resources” to expedite its focus on iGaming and shifting its focus away from esports.
EBET expects a material decrease in revenue growth in the short-term, and as a result, does not expect to reach its original revenue guidance of $70M for FY2022. The company declined to offer an updated guidance.
Despite the roadblocks, CEO Aaron Speach said the business has reached a “major inflection point,” and that he’s “never been more excited” about EBET’s future.
🗞 In the news
Rivalry is set to report Q2 2022 financial results on August 25.
Entain was ordered to pay a record $20.6M by the GB Gambling Commission after the regulator identified a series of social responsibility and anti-money laundering infractions.
Peru has officially legalized online gambling and sports betting.
📈 By the numbers
Allied Esports reported an H1 2022 loss of $7.4M; events were up 12% compared to the first quarter at HyperX Arena Las Vegas.
The PGL Arlington Major is the second most-watched Dota 2 tournament, courting 708K peak viewers.
Penn National Gaming will pay $325M to purchase the remaining 50% of Barstool Sports.