A $35 million Series A investment round led by a few of the top personalities in sports was completed, according to an announcement made by the online lottery startup, Jackpot.
Accomplice, a private equity company co-founded by DraftKings‘ executive member Ryan Moore and Courtside Ventures, an initial investment firm in sporting, digital media, wellness, and gaming companies, provided the majority of the investment for the round.
The $100 billion lottery industry currently relies heavily on cash, with the majority of tickets being purchased in corner stores, general markets, gasoline stations, and other venues.
The Haslam Sports Group, which operates the Cleveland Browns, the Kraft Group, which oversees the New England Patriots, Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin, DraftKings CEO Jason Robins, and Boston Red Sox president Sam Kennedy are also additional stakeholders.
Some of the well-known shareholders also include the National Basketball Association (NBA) stars, Joel Embiid and James Harden as well as the National Hockey League (NHL) legend, Martin Brodeur.
Jackpot’s Co-founder and CEO for North America, Akshay Khanna, stated, “What we are doing is really just allowing you to buy that lottery ticket without ever leaving your couch.
“Over a dozen states have been incredibly receptive to this because they’ve realized that this is actually a fundamentally different channel for the same product.
“We certainly think this will appeal to a potentially younger and more diverse demographic.
“It’s one of the reasons why states that are supportive of this model, because one of the goals here is to expand this product to people who maybe traditionally would not have been those that purchase lottery tickets.”
Jackpot would generate revenue by adding a convenience fee to transactions in an effort to restructure the company and better accommodate the online shopping preferences of today’s clientele. The business also mentioned that it is presently seeking approval to carry out the services from regional authorities in a few areas.
In 2021, Jackpot told the press that although 53% of Americans acquired lottery tickets, just 5% of those were done online. Jackpot claimed that by making lottery tickets more readily available digitally, the organization and the government would see a boost in revenues.