Company name: Wagr Inc.
Amount raised: $12 million in a Series A round, according to a Thursday press release.
From whom: The Kraft Group, owners of the New England Patriots and New England Revolution; Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, which owns the Philadelphia 76ers and the New Jersey Devils; BITKRAFT Ventures; Greycroft; Pear Ventures; Seven Seven Six (founded by Alexis Ohanian, a co-founder and former executive chairman of Reddit); and other angel investors.
What they do: Wagr is a sports-betting app in which users bet against one another, rather than against "the house" — which is what happens in casinos or on several major sports wagering apps. The app encourages users to invite friends and provides a platform for them to communicate. The app is live as of Jan. 20. Forbes unpacks more of its business model in this story.
Why it matters: Co-founders Mario Malave and Eliana Eskinazi got the idea while attending Harvard Business School and relocated headquarters to Nashville last year, after Tennessee approved Wagr's operating license.
What the funds will be used for: Tennessee is the first state where Wagr is licensed. The new funding "will enable the company to accelerate product development, continue expanding its team (which quadrupled during 2021), and cover licensing and launch costs in multiple markets," according to its press release. Wagr raised $4 million of funding in 2020.
Why Nashville: "Tennessee is a true trailblazer when it comes to sports betting legislation," Malave told the Business Journal. "In the early days of Wagr we spent lots of time analyzing all states that had legalized sports betting, and landed on Tennessee as our target launch market. We believe deeply in the importance of being local, especially in our first market. … Nashville has a special energy to it and an unbeatable sports culture that made it an ideal place for us to build Wagr from, so in that sense, the decision was easy."
