Fred Done invests more than £25m in Sharp Gaming start-up
Andrew Daniels steps away from Degree 53 to become CEO of new B2B gambling technology business
Degree 53 founder Andrew Daniels has launched new gambling technology start-up Sharp Gaming after receiving more than £25m in investment from Betfred owner Fred Done.
Sharp Gaming is set to provide a full suite of operational services for sports betting and online gaming, with Daniels heading up the business as chief executive.
Daniels will step down from his day-to-day role at Degree 53 and has promoted Richard Wagstaff to become the firm’s new managing director. Wagstaff has been on the senior leadership team of Degree 53 for the past four years as operations director.
Daniels will be looking to use industry knowledge gained from Degree 53, which created a gaming division in 2017 that formed the bedrock for Sharp Gaming.
The firm now has more than 100 technology experts working to develop the platform which will provide digital and retail products, third-party integrations and improve operational performance for operators.
Degree 53 and Sharp Gaming will operate as separate businesses, with some Degree 53 employees and directors moving over to the new entity.
Daniels said: “The online gambling industry works on various legacy technology and white-label platforms that lack flexibility for operators when they’re ready to scale up.
“This is why I created Sharp Gaming to help leading brands to improve their processes and provide products that not only offer a great experience to their customers, but the end users in the business too.
“Despite the current situation, I’m very excited to be launching Sharp Gaming and developing it into an industry-leading platform. The team’s effort to bring it to life and continue working on it remotely has been phenomenal. There are many more projects ahead and it’s only the beginning for us,” he added.