Draft is announcing today that it has raised $3.5 million to fuel its fantasy-sports mobile-game business. The company is also launching its March Madness real-money betting app, also called Draft, today.
Above: Draft from Today Draft
In doing so, the company is joining a sea of competitors who want to cash in on fantasy sports related to the big NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) college basketball tournament. An estimated 42 million people play fantasy sports in the U.S., according to the Fantasy Sports Trade Association.
[aditude-amp id="flyingcarpet" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":1680619,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"business,entrepreneur,games,mobile,","session":"D"}']Upfront Ventures led the round, with participation from Advancit Capital, BoxGroup, The Chernin Group, and QueensBridge Venture Partners.
The New York company was founded by Jeremy Levine and Nicolo Giorgi, who previously sold StarStreet to Draftkings in the same real-money daily fantasy sports market. Draft is a fantasy sports betting game built for mobile.
AI Weekly
The must-read newsletter for AI and Big Data industry written by Khari Johnson, Kyle Wiggers, and Seth Colaner.
Included with VentureBeat Insider and VentureBeat VIP memberships.
The founders describe it as a casual game, built for ease of use like Words With Friends, but for real-money fantasy sports.
An estimated 40 million people will fill out a bracket this year, and the founders say that Draft will give them a way to engage with the games once the tournament actually starts. Draft has four employees and is hiring.
Draft currently offers NBA (National Basketball Association), NHL (National Hockey League), and college basketball games, and will launch MLB (Major League Baseball) and Golf soon.
Greg Bettinelli, partner at Upfront Ventures, said in a statement, “We are super excited about the potential for Draft as they continue to innovate in the incredibly dynamic fantasy sports space. The emergence of daily fantasy sports and mobile has had an immediate impact on the way sports fans interact with their favorite players and teams, and Draft takes these behaviors to the next level.”
The main rivals include Draftkings and Fanduel, but their emphasis isn’t on mobile from the ground up. Both of those companies have raised money at valuations above $1 billion, according to Adam Krejcik, managing director at Eilers Research.
Ross Levinsohn, Draft advisor and former CEO of Yahoo, said in a statement, “Draft is addicting. It combines the best of what I’ve seen over the last two decades of fantasy sports play into a simple, dynamic, and compelling experience.”
[aditude-amp id="medium1" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":1680619,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"business,entrepreneur,games,mobile,","session":"D"}']
VentureBeat's mission is to be a digital town square for technical decision-makers to gain knowledge about transformative enterprise technology and transact. Learn More