Australian sports and esports betting company Picklebet has raised AUD$15m (~£7.94m) in a Series A financing round.
Picklebet plans to use the funds to develop and grow its offering as well as support its international expansion in 2024.
The financing round was led by Nevada-based investment firm Discerning Capital, which focuses on the intersection of gambling, sports, media and technology. Media investors Drive by DraftKings and Manifest Investment also participated. Moreover, established media investor Jeff Sagansky made a follow-on investment in the round.
Sagansky has invested in esports projects in the past, including odds feed and risk management provider Oddin.
Picklebet is a betting entertainment company based in Australia. Founded in 2020, the company initially specialised in esports betting before expanding to racing and sports. Picklebet provides a proprietary online betting platform and sports betting content across social media through its media brand, Pickle Studios.
Picklebet’s funding round is not the only major esports investment that recently occurred. UK-based esports organisation Guild Esports raised £1m — and £130,000 in a follow-on fundraise —from an unnamed esports brand. One month prior, esports tournament organiser BLAST secured a €12.7m (~£11m) investment.
Picklebet CEO, Nick Heaney, commented on the company’s latest funding round: “After a particularly strong 12 months of growth which saw NGR up 494% YoY and favourable unit economics on new customer cohorts, this investment validates our innovative in-house betting product and organic media strategy, and the value it delivers to the next generation of betting customers.
“We look forward to utilising the funds raised to accelerate customer acquisition in Australia, continued innovation of our proprietary in-house technology platform and media capabilities, and fund our initial international expansion.”
