Underdog Fantasy Announces Latest Round Of Funding, Valuation Up To $1.2B
The company is now valued over $1 billion after this announcement of what’s expected to be over $100 million in funding
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Underdog Fantasy announced its latest round of funding, with Spark Capital leading the company’s Series C round with a $70 million first close on a round expected to top $100 million.
This round of funding values Underdog at $1.225 billion, which nearly triples its Series B valuation from 2022.
“Spark’s investment is a real accelerator,” Jeremy Levine, CEO and founder of Underdog, said in a press release. “We’re going to continue to invest in people and product — and as fast as we can. There is so much more to build, and we’re going to keep building.”
The release notes Spark’s investment is the largest investment from a “top-tier Silicon Valley venture capital firm” in the sports gaming industry.
“This investment fits Spark’s philosophy of backing products we love from creators we admire,” said Will Reed, general partner at Spark Capital. “Underdog has proven they can win where it matters most: product. They’ve also shown they can attract top talent from gaming, tech, and sports. Their unwavering focus on product and customer experience is why they’ve emerged as the most innovative player in sports gaming. We see massive opportunity ahead and are thrilled to be on the journey with them to make sports more fun.”
Road to a billion
Levine, the founder of Underdog, has been an entrepreneur in the fantasy space since 2009, when he launched StarStreet, an early DFS site, shortly after graduating from Syracuse University. He later was the co-founder of DRAFT, which he sold to Paddy Power Betfair (now part of Flutter) in 2017 for $48 million.
DRAFT, however, was shuttered by Flutter in 2019, leading to the launch of Underdog in February of 2020 with seven founding members from the DRAFT team. The company has expanded massively over the last five years, and boasts over four million users. It is also the fourth-most downloaded app in the sports betting and fantasy space, according to the release.
The company built its name with fantasy contests, growing its Best Ball Mania prize pool every year since it launched. It also features daily DFS pick ‘em contests.
Underdog also holds sports betting licenses in Ohio and Colorado, and has an active sportsbook operating in North Carolina. The company also plans to enter the Missouri market at or near launch in that state.
Underdog Fantasy is available, in one form or another, in 41 states, plus Washington D.C. and all of Canada outside of Ontario.
Other notable names who have invested in the company include Mark Cuban, Kevin Durant, and Jared Goff.
This round of funding will allow Underdog to create “the best products for sports fans in the U.S.” while “continuing to bring top-tier talent into the company,” per the release.
