Jackpot has finalised a $35m Series A round powered by some of the world’s biggest investors and operators in sports, media and entertainment, including Lil Baby and James Harden.
The online lottery ticket firm will use the new capital to launch its product in the US as it bids to “transform” the lottery industry through ‘aggressive’ hiring, strategic acquisitions, partnerships with state lotteries, and local market expansion.
In the US, the $100bn-a-year lottery business has been mostly offline and cash-based, with very little technology and data integration.
In 2021, about half of all Americans purchased lottery tickets, but less than 5% of those sales came from online transactions.
But, as more states begin to lower their guard and allow online ticket sales, Jackpot is poised to swoop in and offer its ‘highly developed proprietary technology’.
According to Jackpot, this will help facilitate an increase in lottery ticket sales for the states where the service is permitted, by driving traffic towards the lottery as a form of entertainment and by bringing the lottery experience to a younger audience that may never have purchased lottery tickets before.
“As long-time investors in the real money game space, we look for companies with the vision, the expertise, and the experience to offer real, tangible value Jackpot has all of these, making it perfectly positioned to reimagine the lottery market,” commented Ryan Moore, Partner at Accomplice, who co-led the round.
“Jackpot is a natural fit within our portfolio,” added Deepen Parikh, Partner at Courtside Ventures, who also co-led the round.
“Millions of Americans are playing the lottery every day, and Jackpot will now make the experience even better for consumers. We’re excited to work with the team at Jackpot to revolutionise this massive industry.”
Grammy Award winner Lil Baby and NBA icon Harden headline the names of investors in the project, which includes Kraft Group, Michael Rubin, Haslam Sports Group, Elysian Park Ventures, Arctos Sports Partners, Sapphire Sport, Theo Epstein, Fenway Sports Group President Mike Gordon, DraftKings Co-Founder and CEO Jason Robins, NBA star Joel Embiid, NHL legend Martin Brodeur and Boston Red Sox President and CEO Sam Kennedy.
Jackpot claims 95% of every dollar spent on lottery games will be handed back to the community through contributions to education, healthcare, prizes and other public initiatives, as the company aims to build the ‘most user-friendly digital lottery destination’.
“More and more states across the country are now open to online lottery ticket sales, creating a huge opportunity to digitise the industry and bring a better, more convenient experience for the hundreds of millions of Americans who purchase lottery tickets every year,” said Akshay K. Khanna, Co-founder and CEO, Jackpot North America.
“Jackpot’s goal is to become the leading provider of online lottery tickets in the United States. We are grateful for the support of our investors who will help us accelerate our mission to transform the lottery industry.”
Jackpot plans to launch operations in the US in select states this year.
