A new social gaming and real-money online casino operator called Betty has raised a $5m seed round led by tech-focused operating fund Karlani Capital.
Who is Betty for?
Betty said it has identified a large audience of casual online casino players, particularly female slot enthusiasts, “who are underserved by existing brands which, at their core, are sportsbooks.”
It plans to soft launch its slots-only online casino in Ontario – where it already holds a licence from the local regulator – in February, followed by a full-scale market launch during Q2 this year.
One of the investors participating in the round, LGBTQIA+ and allies’ private investment syndicate Gaingels, commented: “Sports betting and casinos have historically been marketed to men.
“In reality, women make up more than half of the market. We love Betty’s mission to make the category more inclusive.”
According to Betty’s website, the brand is “a community-driven and slots-only casino,” whose mission is “to maximise the entertainment value of iCasino for casual players by creating an environment that is safe, social, and inclusive.”
The brand will offer slot games from suppliers including NetEnt, Games Global, Wizard Games, Red Tiger, Pragmatic Play and Big Time Gaming.
Details of the seed round
The seed funding will go towards the continued development of Betty’s proprietary online casino platform which it said is “tailor-made for the North American customer.”
In addition to Karlani Capital and Gaingels, also participating in the seed round are CEAS Investments, Courtside Ventures, OCA Ventures, Subversive Capital, and 305 Ventures.
Between them, those investors have, or previously had, investments in gambling firms such as FanDuel, Jackpot.com, GameCo, Jackpocket, SimpleBet, Rivalry, PrizePicks, and others.
The latest funding round follows on from a $1.8m pre-seed raise which took place in March 2022.
Who’s behind it?
Betty is led by co-founder and CEO Justin Park.
Park was previously the co-founder and CEO of QL Gaming Group, a sports betting media and data platform which was acquired by New York-listed broadcasting company Entercom (now known as Audacy) for $32m in 2020.
Prior to that, Park co-founded and acted as CEO for video marketing platform Vidaao, which was acquired by content marketing platform and services company Skyword in 2014.
Betty’s other co-founders include former head of platform engineering for Bede Gaming, Chavdar Dimitrov, and experienced designer Annie Zeng, who has previously worked with clients including Nasdaq, LG, Univision and JetBlue.
Former chief operating officer of QL Gaming Group, Jordan Tuch, is another of Betty’s co-founders, along with former VP of product for Pariplay, Vlad Pavlov.