Several Top Sports Execs Lead $35M Funding Round in Jackpot

Leading sports executives and athletes participated in a $35 million Series A fundraising round for the U.K.-based online lottery ticket startup Jackpot.

The round includes a star-studded list of investors, including NBA superstars James Harden and Joel Embiid. It was co-led by early-stage investor Courtside Ventures and VC company Accomplice.

The round, which will facilitate the launch of Jackpot’s app in the United States, also included participation from Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin, New England Patriots owner The Kraft Group, Cleveland Browns owner Haslam Sports Group, DraftKings CEO Jason Robins, and Boston Red Sox president Sam Kennedy.

In addition to Texas, New Jersey, Ohio, and Oregon, Jackpot seeks to expand its operations.
By adding a convenience fee to purchases, the business will make money.

The most recent round of funding for Jackpot will enable the business to enter the $100 billion lottery market in the United States. For the 53% of Americans who bought a lottery ticket last year, Jackpot hopes to close the gap between offline and online lottery ticket sales.

In 2021, just around 5% of lottery ticket sales were made online.

In states that allow online transactions, Positive Spending Jackpot aims to promote lottery ticket sales, which would then support the local economies of those states.

Jackpots attempts to encourage and hasten positive expenditure by allocating up to 95 cents of every dollar spent on lottery games to projects related to healthcare, education, and other areas.