“I feel wonderful, just excited about the next step, this is a milestone in a longer journey,” CoachUp founder Jordan Fliegel said the day he sold his newest startup.
Draft, a daily fantasy sports operator, announced on Wednesday that it has been acquired for $48 million by Paddy Power Betfair, a bookmaker based in Dublin, Ireland, that also owns an online casino business in New Jersey.
Per terms of the deal, the total of $48 million will be paid over a stipulated period of time, with $19 million paid up front by the Irish bookmaker. Fliegel and his business partner Jeremy Levine, another Cambridge native, will remain at Draft as salaried employees, according to Forbes.
Fliegel joined Draft as a co-CEO. Previously, Levine founded another daily fantasy sports startup, StarStreet, that was acquired by DraftKings in 2014.
Fliegel said that he and Levine got to know Paddy Power Betfair global CEO Breon Corcoran thanks to the head of the company’s U.S. business. Initially, they met in Los Angeles. Then, Fliegel and Levine got invited over to London, where they saw all the Paddy Power Betfair operations there. At the end of 2016, they were familiar with the executives.
“My partner Jeremy and I just felt very comfortable with them,” Fliegel said in an interview with BostInno. “They shared their vision and really believed in us, in our approach, in our product, in our emphasis building a high-quality mobile team.”
Initially, Fliegel and Levine weren’t looking to sell the business, Fliegel said. However, meeting with Corcoran played a big role in their decision to sell Draft. “We felt we would work very well with him and his team, and so that’s was a big part of what sold us.”
As for what happens next, Fliegel suddenly started laughing and said that nothing really will change. “Jeremy and I, and the team, none of us are going anywhere.”
Draft had 10 employees until yesterday, but three more people will join the company today after the acquisition. Growing the team and moving to a new office will be the company’s next steps. “We will be at least 20 people by the end of June,” Fliegel said.
Although Draft is currently based in the Flatiron district of New York City, Fliegel said that their roots are in Boston. He and his business partner Levine met in Cambridge when they were eight years old. Also, Levine won an award at TechStars Boston in 2010.
Fliegel declined to disclose details about his salary.
