Simplebet secures $15m in latest funding round

Sports betting software supplier Simplebet has raised an additional $15m in its latest financing round as it eyes further partnerships.

To date, Simplebet has raised $50m in capital, with investors including former MGM Resorts CEO Jim Murren supporting the start-up.

Speaking to CNBC, Simplebet CEO Chris Bevilacqua said the funds would be used to roll out an extension of its micro-betting service called Scripts.

Bevilacqua said: “We have the future operating system of all in-play betting and we think in-play betting is going to be the way the vast majority of sports fans are going to bet.”

In September 2020, Simplebet inked a supply agreement with Flutter Entertainment’s FanDuel to provide the operator with a free-to-play, in-play game for the NFL.

The firm also agreed a deal with Greek supplier Intralot to provide in-play bets for the NFL post-season and Super Bowl in January.

Bevilacqua said 25% of all Intralot in-play bets for January were made using the Simplebet software, which gave an additional boost of confidence to prospective investors.

He continued: “Once the investment community saw those results, we started to get a lot of interest. We wanted to capitalize the company in the long term and use that investment into our engineering and product.”

Bevilacqua also revealed the B2B provider was in talks with another tier-one operator regarding a partnership, but declined to disclose further info.

Bevilacqua said: “You’re going to start to see the product rolling out in a lot more markets and a lot more jurisdictions and not just on the real-money betting side.

“We’re in conversations with a bunch of media companies who are looking at the fan engagement aspect,” he added.