Betty raises $5M for inclusive real-money on-line playing

Betty has raised $5 million in funding for its real-money on-line playing enterprise aimed toward various audiences.

Whereas many on-line playing firms equivalent to Draftkings and FanDuel goal males, Betty is taking a distinct strategy, going after the identical various audiences that like informal video games.

Karlani Capital led the spherical. Additionally collaborating within the spherical have been CEAS Investments, Courtside Ventures, Gaingels, OCA Ventures, Subversive Capital, and 305 Ventures. Betty beforehand raised a $1.8 million pre-seed spherical in March 2022.

Betty has recognized a big viewers of informal “On line casino” clients, notably ladies slot gamers, who’re underserved by current manufacturers which, at their core, are sportsbooks, stated CEO Justin Park in an interview with GamesBeat.

Park began the corporate in March 2022. The inspiration was associated to his earlier firm within the sports-betting house. The corporate interviewed greater than 150 gamers available in the market and located that 80% of them additionally performed free-to-play cell video games like Sweet Crush Saga. But these sorts of mechanics don’t actually exist in social on line casino video games, Park stated.

“We noticed that the net on line casino house is large, with large market inefficiencies. There’s a very massive underserved viewers amongst feminine slot gamers,” he stated.

What shocked me about this enterprise getting funding is that a lot of the social on line casino video games and on-line playing firms obtained funding greater than a decade in the past. You’d suppose this market could be too mature for startups. However Park famous on-line playing in North America is round $5 billion, whereas the general bodily playing market is round $75 billion.

Park stated the analysis confirmed that girls don’t wager on sports activities as a lot, nor do they gamble on all kinds of table-based playing video games. A lot of them give attention to slots, he stated.

“We additionally discovered this viewers could be very group centered, so you may have options like chat rooms,” he stated. “And so they aren’t actually marketed to.”

Betty’s mission is to maximise the leisure worth of iCasino for these informal gamers by creating an surroundings that’s secure, social, and inclusive, he stated.

Gaingels, a LGBTQIA+/Allies non-public funding syndicate, stated in an announcement, “Sports activities betting and casinos have traditionally been marketed to males. In actuality, ladies make up greater than half of the market. We love Betty’s mission to make the class extra inclusive.”

“It’s extra round creating extra inclusivity in the actual cash gaming house,” stated Park, referring to traders like Gaingels. “They’re clearly a thought chief throughout the financing house round that. It’s a fantastic marriage of values.”

The proceeds of the spherical will fund Betty’s operations in Ontario, Canada, the place the corporate will go reside this month.

Betty obtained a playing license from Canada’s Alcohol and Gaming Fee of Ontario on January 24. The corporate anticipates a tender launch in February adopted by a full-scale launch within the second quarter. The seed funding can even go to continued improvement of Betty’s proprietary iCasino platform that’s tailored for the North American buyer. The corporate is making use of for different licenses.

Betty’s founding staff beforehand constructed a U.S. sports activities betting media platform, QL Gaming Group (acquired by Audacy). The corporate relies in New York and it has an workplace in Bulgaria. Proper now, the corporate is concentrated on web-based video games.