We do a quick check-in with Social Betting Marketplace BettorEdge, whose platform has seen impressive growth in the last year.
I first got to meet BettorEdge’s founders James and Greg in Dallas, TX, and was sold on the concept of their social betting app from the beginning. Today, they are growing like mad so I felt I had to reach out and do a check-in to see how things are going. The last time we spoke was for an interview with USBettingReport.com back in 2021.
What have you been up to since we spoke in June of 2021? Do you still call yourselves the Venmo of sports betting? Has anything changed in your value proposition?
Kajewski. Our community and platform have grown massively since June 2021. That was only 6 months since our launch.
This past year, we were proud to be recognized as SBC’s Rising Star of the Year based on our growth, scale, and impact on the industry. This has really opened up opportunities on the partnership front as platform and value proposition has expanded beyond “Venmo of Sports Betting” into offering a whole suite of options around sports, including sports gaming, sports entertainment, and experiences through our partners.
We’ve expanded to partner with over 60 partners across podcasts, brands, and charities. Users can enjoy great media or content from our partners while being connected with great brands for a better sports bar experience, sports apparel, or favorite cocktail.
Have you expanded your team? If so, tell me about your current structure and what your key plans are right now.
Kajewski. We added to the team in the marketing space after our last discussion. Additionally, we bring in key strategic teams to support us in marketing, UX, strategy, etc. Currently, our focus is expanding with strategic partners that help expand the community. Recently, we brought on board Jason Zucker, Pittsburgh Penguin and are seeing huge benefits in getting his following and network to help grow the BettorEdge community.
Running a business is tough. What are some things that you have learned in the last couple of years as founders?
Kajewski. It takes hard work and determination to run a business, but we’re constantly listening to our community for feedback and support on future direction. It’s the voice of the community that really helps our users thrive and push our referral rates around 40% of our community.
Are you planning to raise money and, if so, what will you use it for?
Kajewski. As a founder, we’re constantly looking for strategic partners to collaborate alongside to accelerate growth. We’ve closed some additional funds via friends and family in the last year and are focused on launching our revenue streams in 2023. We’re fortunate to be a lean and impactful team and the majority of money raised goes directly into user acquisition to help grow the community. As we continue to move forward, we’re always open to discussing with investors on how sports betting plays a key role in the greater sports and entertainment of a sports fan.
There has been an explosion in the AI world recently. Does this affect how Bettor Edge runs its business? Do you see AI changing the betting space as we know it and, if so, how?
Kajewski. It’s been awesome to see innovation with AI recently. It’s made a lot of the things we do more impactful and efficient. We use AI/ChatGPT frequently to support business processes, marketing initiatives, or further test thesis on best practices.
We’re excited as AI plays an important role in a B2C social platform in the betting space. We already have technology that suggests podcasts and bet types to you based on your previous betting habits. As we grow and scale, we’re excited about how AI can continue to make a better and more streamlined experience for each user.
What do you expect to see this year in terms of orders in the app? Last I checked, you were anticipating $50m – what has been the response and what’s the 2023 goal?
Kajewski. We saw over 5-7X growth from 2021 to 2022. We had an amazing first year in 2021 after launch and have continued to see exponential growth from there.
The unique part of our product is the user experience is largely dependent on how many users are on the platform. Accordingly, we’re seeing new cohorts come in and have an even better experience than before leading to more and more referrals and shares amongst friends. It’s awesome to see the network effect come to play and would expect to continue the growth in order volume throughout 2023. Crossing $100M in orders in a year will be an exciting milestone!
At the end of last year, you decided to partner with Give16. How did that partnership come about and what other collaborations are in the pipeline?
Kajewski. We’ve always prioritized charitable giving as a part of the BettorEdge community. In 2021, the community donated over $10,000 to Chad Greenway’s Lead the Way Foundation. As our community grew, we had the opportunity to connect with Jason Zucker and Give16. Give16 has left an extremely positive impact on the Minnesota community through a simple concept, together we can spark positive change.
Positive change was a common theme we connected on as we’ve consistently focused on using our platform and community for positive impact on the communities we live in. We couldn’t be more excited to have Jason and Give16 onboard as we look to give back to many of the amazing communities of our members.
Any final thoughts about the next steps for BettorEdge?
Kajewski. We’re extremely bullish on where we sit in the sports landscape. As a sports gaming company really pushing innovation and integration into sports entertainment, media and experiences; we’re bullish on our future ahead in providing consumers with the best gaming experience possible.
Not only will people be able to better enjoy sporting events with BettorEdge, but they’re going to be better connected to their favorite brands and experiences within our community. For example, after a user win’s a bet, they’re prompted with their favorite sports apparel & other partner products that interest them!
