This week: Why BettingStartups is launching a capital vertical

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Why BettingStartups is launching a capital vertical

The news: BettingStartups has launched BettingStartups Capital, a new investment arm backing pre-seed and seed-stage startups across real-money gaming. The firm will write $100,000 to $250,000 checks and is co-led by Paris Smith (former CEO of Pinnacle), Magnus Hedman (strategic industry investor), and Jesse Learmonth (BettingStartups founder). The vehicle is founder-funded, without external LPs, allowing it to move with flexibility and speed, and has already made its first investment in InsightPlay.ai, a B2B supplier of autonomous agents used by operators to drive player acquisition, engagement, and customer service outcomes. The launch coincides with the 200th episode of The BettingStartups Podcast, where Learmonth and Smith discuss the firm’s investment philosophy in depth.

Zoom in: BettingStartups Capital is positioned as more than a traditional early-stage fund, offering portfolio companies visibility across its podcast and newsletter, which reach tier-one operators, investors, and executives. “The BettingStartups platform has been giving visibility and credibility to industry startups for over four years,” Learmonth said, calling the fund “a logical extension” of that work. On the podcast, Smith said, “when I'm looking at the startup groups, I'm looking at the founder, making sure that they're solving a problem and it has a commercial impact,” adding she has developed “a good instinct of what's gonna work,” over her 30 year career in the industry.

Why it matters: Real-money gaming remains one of the most complex verticals in tech, shaped by regulation, compliance, payments, and market access. As generalist capital has grown more cautious, specialized investors with operating experience are stepping in. By combining capital, operator context, and media distribution, BettingStartups Capital aims to use its proximity to founders and deep industry fluency to create an edge.

Listen to the full podcast on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

Bitcoin Depot enters social betting market through Kutt acquisition

The news: Bitcoin Depot, one of North America’s largest Bitcoin ATM operators, has acquired peer-to-peer social betting platform Kutt. Founded in 2022, Kutt enables users to create fully customizable bets across sports, politics, entertainment, and other verifiable events, negotiating terms directly rather than betting against a house. As founder and CEO Sim Harmon previously said on The BettingStartups Podcast: “We allow two people to bet directly against each other on the outcome of just about anything… we capture, track, and monetize all the handshake bets that you're making on a day to day basis.”

Zoom in: The acquisition reflects Bitcoin Depot’s broader product diversification strategy as it “seeks to expand into adjacent fintech categories,” the company told BettingStartups. Bitcoin Depot added it has been “studying the P2P betting vertical for some time,” and that Kutt stood out for its “strong leadership team, well-established technology platform, and a clear product-market fit.” Bitcoin Depot added its “experience navigating quickly-changing and regulated industries” makes it a strong partner. Over the next 6–12 months, Bitcoin Depot plans to support Kutt through product development and expanded marketing reach, with a focus on community-generated markets and deeper engagement features.

Why it matters: As sportsbooks mature and regulatory complexity increases, peer-to-peer and social betting models are emerging as differentiated alternatives to house-driven wagering. For Bitcoin Depot, the deal represents a calculated move into an adjacent fintech vertical tied to digital payments and online entertainment. For Kutt, the added scale and marketing support could accelerate its positioning within the broader real-money gaming ecosystem. 

Sponsored by NEXT.io

BettingStartups is partnering with NEXT.io for NEXT Summit: New York, bringing startup and early-stage innovation front and center at one of the industry’s most important U.S. events. The conference is less than a week away, with Emerging Verticals set for March 9, followed by the main event March 10-11 in the city’s financial district.

If you want to be in the room where the next iteration of this industry takes form, and alongside those shaping it, now’s the time. Secure your pass before tickets sell out or prices increase—and use code BETTINGSTARTUPS10 for 10% off your full event pass.

Atlas World Sports expands into daily fantasy with AtlasDFS

The news: Atlas World Sports has launched AtlasDFS, a new daily fantasy sports product now live with NBA contests using a pick’em format where users select “More or Less” on player stat projections. The company plans to expand to PGA Tour and NHL contests in the second quarter, followed by MLB in July and the NFL this fall. AtlasDFS is accessible through the Atlas app and at AtlasDFS.com.

Zoom in: Atlas World Sports likens itself to the “Expedia of sports betting,” aggregating odds, bonuses, and bet types from more than 20 sportsbooks into a single interface. AtlasDFS extends that ecosystem by combining fantasy contests with the same real-time data, projections, and predictive AI tools already powering its betting research platform. The product grew out of the October 2024 acquisition of Lockspread.com, and is led by Director of Product Kevin Koeppel, who previously founded the DFS platform No House Advantage.

Why it matters: The launch comes at an interesting moment for the DFS market, as key players like Underdog pivot more aggressively toward prediction markets, signaling that some operators may begin shifting focus away from traditional fantasy formats. That could create space for new entrants like Atlas to capture users still looking for DFS-style experiences—particularly those already embedded in betting research and odds comparison tools.

News, money, and alpha

• Betr is entering the prediction markets segment through a Polymarket partnership.

• Outlier introduced React Live, a real-time tool that surfaces momentum shifts, lineup changes, and live performance signals before the market fully reacts.

• Odditt has launched Bracket Party, a free March Madness bracket tool for casual fans.

• Bettortainment has entered into a strategic content partnership with Dabble ahead of next week's Cheltenham Festival.

• BresBet founder Nic Brereton has launched a new UK-licensed sportsbook Bet St George, focused on England-dedicated markets and offers.

From the studio

Catch up on the latest episodes of The BettingStartups Podcast.

• Announcing the launch of BettingStartups Capital w/ Paris Smith

• Turning crypto volatility into a pocket prediction game w/ Michael, Evan & Chris from FEEN

• The long road to a breakthrough inflection point w/ Pierre Lindh from Next.io

You’ve made it to the end of the newsletter—seems like you should probably subscribe if you haven’t already.

Are you a startup in real-money gaming looking to announce a new product launch, partnership, or funding round? Get it on our radar! Email: [email protected]