Final FanDuel co-founder departs for esports venture with Nigel Eccles
Operator's head of design Rob Jones teams up with old partner for new Flick platform
The last of FanDuel’s five co-founders, Rob Jones, has left the company to launch a new business with Nigel Eccles.
Jones and Eccles today announced the launch of Flick, a platform for streaming and sharing esports play.
“While the esports market is still relatively young, it is growing fast and we feel there is a huge opportunity there,” Jones said.
“We know we work well together and have already proven we have the capability to build a global business from here in Scotland. For this new company we plan to leverage Scotland’s deep expertise in video game development.”
Jones said he stepped down from his position as head of design at FanDuel late last year, around the same time as Eccles departed.
He is the last co-founder to leave the firm, following Eccles, Tom Griffiths, former technology head Chris Stafford and marketing director Lesley Eccles, the latter two who departed in 2016.
“The first time round with FanDuel, the market we were looking at – daily fantasy sports – was relatively small,” Jones told Herald Scotland.
“This time we’re going for an extremely large market – esports – and we want to make something that is more social.
“We’re excited to be going back to the beginning again – for me that was the most exciting bit at [FanDuel].”
The two partners are currently looking to raise funds for the project.
The move will also stoke speculation that a sale of the company is imminent, with major investor KKR thought to be among the front-runners.