Independently owned daily fantasy sports (DFS) operator PrizePicks has announced the closing of a strategic round of funding which includes several previous investors as well as big names from the worlds of sports, entertainment, and gaming.
Alongside returning groups such as Phoenix Capital Ventures, participants in the round include Astralis Capital, a new gaming fund with industry backing and connectivity, and sports and entertainment investment group The Player’s Impact, whose advisors include NBA Hall of Famer Tracy McGrady and Olympic gold medal gymnast Gabby Douglas.
Other notable investors in the round include Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, Atlanta Hawks forward John Collins, Next Play Capital Partner Hunter Hillenmeyer, Bet.Works Founder Quinton Singleton, SportsGrid COO Adam Kaplan, Former NFL Executive Vishal Shah, and ThePostGame led by Eric Herd, co-founder and CEO, and David Katz, co-founder, chairman, and former head of FOX Sports Digital and Yahoo! Sports.
Chris Giesting, analyst for The Player’s Impact, stated: “What stood out was the PrizePicks vision of looking ahead by building a smart foundation and understanding where the market is heading with upcoming legalizations in certain states.
“Through their own proprietary linesmaking, they have the ability to expand into other sports markets quicker, more effectively, and more profitably than others. Athletes understand the value behind sports and gaming, and, with PrizePicks, there’s a chance to utilize our industry knowledge to help support a growing brand in underserved markets.”
PrizePicks will be using the round to boost its marketing spending while also continuing to invest in its proprietary and patented technology. To date, the company has primarily utilized debt financing to take advantage of its fast customer acquisition payback periods.
PrizePicks CEO Adam Wexler commented: “Unlike many of the fantasy and betting operators, PrizePicks was profitable year to date ahead of football season, and we wanted to make the most of our top revenue market, the NBA, converging with our second most popular, the NFL.
“We experienced very attractive customer acquisition costs this fall advertising across new channels such as linear TV and OTT. With four years of marketing experience across a variety of acquisition channels, we look forward to entertaining a major funding round in the early part of 2022.”
Singleton added: “As CEO, Adam Wexler and his team have been relentless in driving innovation and new products. It’s nothing short of impressive to see the incredible growth and trajectory of PrizePicks.”
PrizePicks has recruited interest from the likes of poker Hall of Famers Phil Hellmuth and Jack McLelland and former NBA champion Andrew Bogut in previous funding rounds. The new round also adds investments from influencer partners Kenny “KOT4Q” Beecham (YouTube) and Robby “Brilliantly Dumb” Berger.
The firm believes the allure for investors is the “diversity of its audiences and intuitive gameplay” and the engagement that can create, whether that be “the expansion of a burgeoning market like esports, the addition of single-stat, live in-game offerings for NBA, NFL, and CFB games, or the company’s rapidly expanding Discord channel”.
“PrizePicks has thrived by creating simple, elegant, intuitive, fun games that tap into the modern fan’s love of players and props,” Katz said.
Herd added: “In getting to know Adam and the company, it was clear we were philosophically aligned on the vast opportunity that lies ahead, and ThePostGame is thrilled to participate in this round.”
