40-42 Hatton
Garden London
EC1N 8EB
Accelerate Ventures is pleased to have led Betmate’s recent Series A funding round. Based in Liverpool, Betmate is a peer-to-peer sports betting and fantasy platform.
The online sports betting market has enjoyed an explosion of growth in the past decade to become the $45bn industry it is today as customer preferences shift towards ever- improving online platforms and global regulation continues to ease.
Global Online Sports Betting Revenue, 2020 – 2028 (USD, bn)
The Problem: Complex, Socially Isolating Gaming Experiences
One of the main problems faced by traditional bookmakers is the negative public perception, often seen as a solitary, isolating activity. Conventional betting operators also rely on complex odds systems. The various formats (fractional, decimal, American) can be difficult to understand, creating barriers to entry and alienating less experienced players. In a NatCen Social Research study, 72% of surveyed players demonstrated an incorrect understanding of return-to-player odds. And when betting against the bookies, as the old saying goes, the house always wins.
Solution #1: Highly Gamified Peer-to-Peer Betting
Betmate tackles these key challenges in the betting industry by offering a peer-to-peer (P2P) sports betting platform with proprietary gamification elements built into the platform. Its simplified and accessible approach to odds systems ensures broader appeal to users, including those less experienced with traditional betting mechanics.
There is also a social element ingrained within P2P betting. Users bet against each other rather than the house, and Betmate’s popular community features foster further social interaction. Users are invited to “join the social betting revolution” with a platform that is proudly “not a bookie”. Social responsibility is a core tenet within the Betmate platform, allowing only low stakes and charging low fees.
Solution #2: Daily Fantasy Sports
Central to Betmate’s current offering is its fantasy game mode. Offering users the chance to play new fantasy games in each week of UK football fixtures, Betmate is capitalising on the immensely popular Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) format, and targeting a historically under- served area of the UK market.
The fantasy sports market benefits from many of the same wider trends boosting online sports betting. Growing international sports fanbases, the mass penetration of smartphones, and platforms offering user-friendly apps and quick, pain-free payment processing have all supported fantasy growth in recent years, as well as the favourable legalisation trends seen at the macro level. In 2024, over a third of US adults engage in fantasy sports at least once a month.
Also operating under the Betmate banner is Engage Games, offering a B2B service allows sports rightsholders, media groups, and brands to leverage Betmate’s core technology to deliver world-class engagement through free-to-play and pay-to-play gaming.
Betmate is changing the way that fans engage with sports and tackling issues that have existed within the sports betting industry for decades. The platform was born out of co- founders Ryan Lawrence and Declan Dowling’s love for sports and friendly competition between mates. The team has been backing social betting to overtake the traditional model since they started their journey in August 2020, and it now feels as though people are starting to agree with them, as Ryan told the Gambling Insider magazine in October 2024.
“We are very excited to support Ryan, Declan, and the rest of the Betmate team as they look to continue their impressive growth in the increasingly popular spaces of peer-to-peer and fantasy sports gaming” – Lucas Danson, CEO at Accelerate Ventures.
Our investment in Betmate reflects our broader belief that fans are changing the way they engage with sports and consume sports-related media and gaming. Betmate upends traditional models of sports betting, offering a fun and gamified experience that keeps users engaged and retained in the long-term.
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Accelerate Ventures is pleased to have led Betmate’s recent Series A funding round. Based in Liverpool, Betmate is a peer-to-peer sports betting and fantasy platform.
The online sports betting market has enjoyed an explosion of growth in the past decade to become the $45bn industry it is today as customer preferences shift towards ever- improving online platforms and global regulation continues to ease.
Global Online Sports Betting Revenue, 2020 – 2028 (USD, bn)
The Problem: Complex, Socially Isolating Gaming Experiences
One of the main problems faced by traditional bookmakers is the negative public perception, often seen as a solitary, isolating activity. Conventional betting operators also rely on complex odds systems. The various formats (fractional, decimal, American) can be difficult to understand, creating barriers to entry and alienating less experienced players. In a NatCen Social Research study, 72% of surveyed players demonstrated an incorrect understanding of return-to-player odds. And when betting against the bookies, as the old saying goes, the house always wins.
Solution #1: Highly Gamified Peer-to-Peer Betting
Betmate tackles these key challenges in the betting industry by offering a peer-to-peer (P2P) sports betting platform with proprietary gamification elements built into the platform. Its simplified and accessible approach to odds systems ensures broader appeal to users, including those less experienced with traditional betting mechanics.
There is also a social element ingrained within P2P betting. Users bet against each other rather than the house, and Betmate’s popular community features foster further social interaction. Users are invited to “join the social betting revolution” with a platform that is proudly “not a bookie”. Social responsibility is a core tenet within the Betmate platform, allowing only low stakes and charging low fees.
Solution #2: Daily Fantasy Sports
Central to Betmate’s current offering is its fantasy game mode. Offering users the chance to play new fantasy games in each week of UK football fixtures, Betmate is capitalising on the immensely popular Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) format, and targeting a historically under- served area of the UK market.
The fantasy sports market benefits from many of the same wider trends boosting online sports betting. Growing international sports fanbases, the mass penetration of smartphones, and platforms offering user-friendly apps and quick, pain-free payment processing have all supported fantasy growth in recent years, as well as the favourable legalisation trends seen at the macro level. In 2024, over a third of US adults engage in fantasy sports at least once a month.
Also operating under the Betmate banner is Engage Games, offering a B2B service allows sports rightsholders, media groups, and brands to leverage Betmate’s core technology to deliver world-class engagement through free-to-play and pay-to-play gaming.
Betmate is changing the way that fans engage with sports and tackling issues that have existed within the sports betting industry for decades. The platform was born out of co- founders Ryan Lawrence and Declan Dowling’s love for sports and friendly competition between mates. The team has been backing social betting to overtake the traditional model since they started their journey in August 2020, and it now feels as though people are starting to agree with them, as Ryan told the Gambling Insider magazine in October 2024.
“We are very excited to support Ryan, Declan, and the rest of the Betmate team as they look to continue their impressive growth in the increasingly popular spaces of peer-to-peer and fantasy sports gaming” – Lucas Danson, CEO at Accelerate Ventures.
Our investment in Betmate reflects our broader belief that fans are changing the way they engage with sports and consume sports-related media and gaming. Betmate upends traditional models of sports betting, offering a fun and gamified experience that keeps users engaged and retained in the long-term.
Accelerate Ventures
Accelerate Ventures 40-42 Hatton Garden London EC1N 8EB
