This week: Meet the five startups competing for $100K at First Pitch

Also: Benjie Cherniak lays out what founders should know before they pitch in an AMA, and Betr acquires an introducing broker to fast track a path to prediction markets later this year.

May 28, 2026

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Meet the five startups competing for $100K at First Pitch

The news: Five early-stage founders will take the stage at SBC Summit Americas in Fort Lauderdale on June 11 for First Pitch, one of the gaming industry’s most visible startup competition, with a prize package valued at over $100,000 on the line. The finalists—InsightPlay.ai, Odditt, OddsBlaze, ParlayX, and The Sharps—span AI-powered CRM, parlay discovery, odds data infrastructure, prediction market middleware, and skill-based sports competition.

Zoom in: The range of bets on display is striking. ParlayX is building Bloomberg-style institutional infrastructure for prediction markets. At the other end of the spectrum, The Sharps went from concept to live apps in the Apple and Google Play stores in roughly 60 days—founder Robert McCall built it with no prior programming experience. "When you believe in a project and you believe in what you're doing… it leads to a lot of 20-hour days," he said.

Why it matters: First Pitch has become a reliable early signal for where gaming startup activity is concentrating, and this year's cohort reflects two clear pulls: AI and automation on the operator side (InsightPlay.ai, Odditt), and infrastructure for emerging market structures on the other (OddsBlaze, ParlayX). 

We sat down with each of the five founders to hear what problems they’re solving—read more on the site, or catch the podcast on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

What a gaming industry veteran wants founders to know before they pitch

The news: Benjie Cherniak, former Managing Director of Don Best Sports, angel investor, and advisor behind companies including OddsJam (acquired by Gambling.com for $160M) and ZeroFlucs (acquired by Caesars), hosted an AMA for early-stage founders through the Defy the Odds community, sharing his playbook on getting operator attention, pitching investors, and building in the real-money gaming space.

Zoom in: On AI pitches, Cherniak's advice was to go narrow before you go wide. He pointed to portfolio company InsightPlay.ai as a case study—the team initially pitched a broad AI-for-everything-in-gaming thesis, got passed, came back eight months later with a focused use case and early traction, and got the check. "Start narrow and get good at something," he said. "Show specifically what problem you're solving that operators need solved today."

Why it matters: The session hit on a consistent theme—namely, that the founders who break through in B2B gaming aren't necessarily the ones with the biggest vision decks, but the ones who can prove traction before they have distribution, know their numbers cold, and show up at the right places with the right introductions. In a sales cycle where operators are weighing 100 competing priorities and investors increasingly want warm intros, the soft infrastructure of relationships and proof points may matter as much as the product itself.

We covered the full session on our website, click here to hear more of Chreniak’s thoughts.

Sponsored content

SBC Summit Americas is headed to sunny Fort Lauderdale, Florida in a few weeks, from June 9–11. With 10,000 industry attendees, a dedicated Startup Zone, and the highly anticipated First Pitch competition, the conference is buzzing with opportunities for startups, early-stage companies, and founders alike.

Get a 30% discount when you use code BETTINGSTARTUPSVIP at checkout here.

Betr acquires Ascent Capital to fast-track a path to prediction markets this year

The news: Betr has acquired Ascent Capital Management, an NFA-registered introducing broker, giving the Jake Paul-backed “super app” a fast track to CFTC registration and a path to launching prediction markets this year. The deal lets Betr sidestep a lengthy NFA registration process and sets up in-app prediction market access powered by Polymarket technology.

Zoom in: CEO Joey Levy called it a "major milestone," saying the IB registration means Betr can "now focus entirely on launching a seamless, compliant prediction markets experience powered by Polymarket." The plan is to fold event contracts (spanning sports, politics, and culture) directly into the same app wallet users already access for sportsbook, casino, and arcade products.

Why it matters: Prediction markets are becoming a genuine acquisition target for gaming operators, and the IB-acquisition model is emerging as the compliant, and quickest, US entry path. Betr's move comes the same week Sporttrade announced it's winding down its sportsbook—a possible preview of where the broader market is heading.

News, money, and alpha 🗞️

  • Defy the Odds is hosting an AMA with BettingStartups Capital partners Jesse Learmonth and Paris Smith on June 4 at 12PM ET. RSVP here.

  • Yolo Investments received regulatory authorization from Abu Dhabi's Financial Services Regulatory Authority to launch Fund III, a $250M vehicle targeting Series A–C rounds across fintech, crypto, and gaming.

  • Esports supplier Oddin has secured an early mover advantage in Alberta with an oddsmaker licence.

Great gigs 💼

Big opportunities with awesome growth-stage companies, brought to you by BettingJobs.

  • 🆕 Novig is looking for a Product Designer to shape the core experience of its sports prediction market—from concepting new features to shipping polished interfaces — in its Union Square, NYC office. (View job)

  • MyPrize is hiring a Partnerships Manager, Creator & Content to manage its live-streaming creator portfolio, game provider relationships, and strategic content partnerships across its free-to-play social gaming platform. Remote-first (NYC/Miami). (View job)

  • ALT Sports Data is hiring a Vice President of Finance to build and lead the company’s financial engine from its Toronto office. (View job)

From the studio 🎙️

Catch up on the latest episodes of The BettingStartups Podcast.

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