Mobile sports betting startup ZenSports closes $2.4m Series A round funding
ZenSports, the next-generation mobile sports betting app that offers both a traditional book plus peer-to-peer sports betting platform using fiat or cryptocurrencies, has announced the close of its new $2.4 million in Series A funding. Investors in this round include Gaingels, MicroVentures, Calm Ventures, Twenty Five Ventures and Allied Ventures Partners, as well as other individual angel investors.
The new round of funding will be used by ZenSports to complete its current U.S. gaming license applications that it has on file in Nevada and Tennessee. ZenSports also recently signed a partnership deal with Boulter Developments to eventually expand into Colorado.
For its Nevada license, ZenSports signed a deal last summer with Strategic Gaming Management for the option to purchase the Big Wheel Casino in Lovelock, Nevada, which will allow ZenSports to operate its mobile sports betting app anywhere in the state once it gets licensed there. According to ZenSports Co-founder and CEO Mark Thomas, the application process in Nevada is going well and he expects that ZenSports' gaming license there will be approved by July or August of this year. Thomas is also excited about Tennessee and Colorado and thinks that ZenSports is the exact kind of product that U.S. customers are looking for.
Mark Thomas, Co-founder and CEO, ZenSports: "As a startup, competing with large, well-funded competitors is never easy. But based on our international traction and product-market fit over the past two years, we believe that ZenSports offers sports betting customers the most amount of choices in how they bet, complemented with a beautiful and clean design. Over 50,000 bets have been accepted through our app since we launched internationally two years ago and we've processed over $45 million in betting volume. We're super excited to replicate this traction as we expand into the U.S. and this round of funding will help accelerate our entry into this market."
Lorenzo Thione, Managing Director, Gaingels: "Gaingels is excited to be investing in ZenSports' Series A. Mark and his team have built a cutting-edge sports betting and gaming platform that is poised to grow and scale worldwide. ZenSports' commitment to diversity within the LGBTQ and other minority communities is core to Gaingels' mission and we couldn't be more thrilled to help the company on its journey."
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