Four years after its founding, Camden-based sports tech startup Sporttrade debuted its sports betting exchange app to the New Jersey marketplace on Thursday.
Sportstrade CEO Alex Kane, 28, founded the company in 2018. It took about two years for him and his team to build the platform, which he said was inspired by online financial investment services platform Robinhood.
“I just saw how many people were using Robinhood, and I thought to myself, someone is going to create a trading app for sports that allows you to do exactly what you do on Robinhood but for the Phillies,” Kane said.
The concept is essentially stock trading for sports. Sporttrade's mobile app allows users to place bets throughout the course of a given sporting event, “buy and sell continuously,” and “trade on the probability of the outcome.”
Users can engage in win-loss outcomes, spreads and over-unders for professional baseball, basketball, football and golf, as well as college basketball and football. Sporttrade receives a 2% commission on winning bets.
Personal portfolios are available on the app, allowing users to monitor and track bets.
Sporttrade has over 100 accounts so far and has completed 230 trades since its soft launch last week, Kane said. He will look to early adopters for feedback and metrics, keeping a particular eye on the number and times of log-ons and trades.
The exchange app is available exclusively in New Jersey. Kane said users don’t need to live in the Garden State, but must be “physically in the state at the time of placing your order.” Kane added that people from New York and Pennsylvania are among its recorded users.
Sporttrade chose its headquarters in Camden because New Jersey was one of the first states to legalize sports betting and has one of the most robust industries in the country.
The launch comes about a year after the startup received a $36 million investment from multiple big-name investors including former Nasdaq Stock Exchange President Tom Wittman and former MGM Resorts International CEO Jim Murren.
Now that it's launched, Kane said he couldn't be happier.
“It feels incredible. Each time that there’s a trade that comes in, we have a little bell here at the office, we’re ringing every time there’s a trade. It’s a lot of fun.”
To get to this point, Sporttrade hired between 70 and 75 people for design, engineering, finance, marketing and product positions. Its operations, headquartered at 2 Aquarium Loop Drive, are largely remote, though most employees are located in Greater Philadelphia.
Looking ahead, Kane said he doesn't have a plan for future hiring and would like to focus on operations as business grows. He said the company doesn't have any plans for additional fundraising at this time.
Sporttrade's app is available to iOS users and Kane said he has a goal of launching for Android users in the future. He also wants to expand to other states where sports betting is legal, beginning with Colorado and Indiana. Last year the company acquired Denver-based Momentum Sports, so it already has a foothold in Colorado.
For now, Kane is focused on this launch.
"I think it’s hitting me in small doses...,” he said. “The magic of 'Oh my gosh, someone just placed a trade on Sporttrade' is a pretty awesome feeling.”
