A new gambling platform started by the son of Paddy Power’s co-founder raised more than €500,000 through crowdfunding over the weekend.
ASX, a sports trading exchange, has been co-founded by Paddy Power. He is the son of David Power, who co-founded the betting giant bearing the same name.
The junior Power was previously head of communications at Paddy Power Betfair, now known as Flutter Entertainment.
The campaign, launched on equity crowdfunding platform Spark, raised just over €547,000 from 142 investors in 12 hours over the weekend.
It is the company’s second time using crowdfunding. Earlier this month, it launched a campaign on Spark Crowdfunding that raised €634,000. The total funding raised this month is now more than €1.1m.
ASX is a stock market of sorts for sports stars that combines fantasy sports and financial markets, according to the company.
Fans are able to buy ‘shares’ in players and teams and when they perform well, the share price increases, meaning a potential windfall for fans. The platform uses AI to manage live sports data from matches.
“We don’t actually need any further funds at this time but equally if we take in an extra €500,000 now it will get us to a larger Series A financing round, hopefully in about 12 months’ time,” Power said.
“We are engaged in numerous partnership discussions with major brands in the States and it makes sense to ensure we have sufficient funds to capitalise on these opportunities.”
Crowdfunding backers have been promised a 25pc discount on the price of ASX shares in the next major fundraising exercise.
Power is hoping to capitalise on a loosening up of gambling laws in US states that is opening up the field for more kinds of sports betting.
ASX is running pilot projects with major baseball and hockey teams including the Philadelphia Phillies and the Las Vegas Golden Knights.
ASX was founded in 2019 and launched a beta version of the platform in 2020. Founder Power is joined on the management team by former Racing Post commercial director Mike Griffin and former Banco Santander EFX tech lead Conall Flood.
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