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Artwork by Lorenzo Gordon/Photo Courtesy of Getty Images
Social media and betting startup Betr Media has raised $35 million in fresh venture capital from a group led by Roger Ehrenberg, of IA Sports Ventures and Eberg Capital. The new round of funding values the business at $300 million.
Betr is a media and sports gambling company founded last summer by influencer and pro boxer Jake Paul and CEO Joey Levy. In this new round, Betr also raised additional money from Fuel Venture Capital, which invested another $10 million on top of its original $10 million, according to Betr. Paul and Levy also invested in the round from their personal capital, with Paul’s coming through his Anti Fund. The funding, termed a Series A2 round by Betr, has partially closed and will close fully later this year, according to the company.
Betr’s gaming division is an online sports betting business focused on a simple user interface for the casual sports fan. It originated with micro-betting on in-play action and is expanding capabilities to offer a full sportsbook. It already operates in Massachusetts and Ohio, is licensed in Virginia and holds market access in Indiana. Betr recently bought a platform from Canada’s FansUnite that will allow the business to launch a series of sportsbook capabilities. Its media segment has amassed 1.4 million social media followers since it was founded in August, according to Betr.
Investor Ehrenberg is best known for IA Ventures, which he founded in 2009 originally to invest in financial and health tech startups. In recent years he has shifted his focus to sports franchises, sports technology and Web3 businesses through both his IA and Eberg funds. Co-investor Fuel VC has holdings in a variety of tech startups, having been founded last decade by Jeff Ransdell, a former Merrill Lynch executive. Investors in earlier capital raises by Betr include tech-focused Fintech Ventures, Simplebet backer Florida Funders and Aliya Capital Partners, a hybrid fund that has operations in alternative financing for pro athletes.
“[W]e opportunistically raised [capital] after successfully laying the foundations for Betr Gaming and Betr Media while validating some of our core theses,” Levy said in a press release. “Our ability to rapidly scale Betr Media’s audience, and then convert this audience to Betr Gaming at low-to-no-[customer acquisition cost], will enable us to have the best unit economics in the regulated real money gaming industry, positioning Betr to create more value than incumbent operators over time.”
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