Paddy Power has today launched a crowdfunding campaign for his business ASX. The bookmaker and former head of communications of Paddy Power Betfair (now Flutter Entertainment) is raising €500,000 to accelerate growth at his technology start-up, which will offer sports fans a new way to speculate on player and team performance.
ASX is integrating fantasy sports scoring with financial market technology to create the world’s first sports trading exchange. The platform will offer live ‘share prices’ of individual players and teams based on expected performance. Its proprietary AI-driven algorithm and live data feed will update prices continually allowing for in-game and in-stadia dynamic fan engagement.
ASX users can buy or sell shares based on how they believe a player or team will perform in the short run or long run. Trades are then exited in a similar way to which a stock exchange operates, with ASX taking a small commission on each trade. ASX co-founder and president Paddy Power said fantasy, free to play and real-money options are all available, with new players and teams added regularly.
Power has put together a management team for the company including former Racing Post commercial director Mike Griffin and former Banco Santander Efx Tech lead Conall Flood along with former Paddy Power employees. Power spent the last 24 years at the betting giant founded by his father, which shares the same name.
ASX is raising €500,000 in exchange for 10% of the shares in this new business, ahead of an expected much larger Series A fundraising in 12-18 months’ time. The shares are exclusively available through Spark Crowdfunding at this time and demand is expected to be high as ASX is an EIIS qualifying business, which entitles investors to a 40% tax rebate on their investment.
"Few people know the industry as well as Paddy Power. He has worked in it for almost a quarter of a century. We’re so excited to be a part of helping his business get off the ground, as we think it will be huge," Spark CrowdFunding CEO Chris Burge said. "If I were a betting man, I’d tell people this is a good bet. But as Paddy says himself, stop betting and start investing."
Source: www.businessworld.ie
