Kero Gaming announced today the closing of an oversubscribed $2 Million Seed 2 round, its second this year, with Happyhour.io, an early stage VC fund in the iGaming space, leading the round.
Tomash Devenishek, Founder and CEO, launched the company with a focus on providing the growing sports betting industry with new products to engage users through real-time, contextual micro bets, delivered via algorithms the company builds in-house. The Kero product heavily mirrors mechanics of casino style games with a ‘Tik-tok style’ betting experience whitelabeled for gaming operators that appeals to an audience of consumers looking for entertainment value vs risk trading.
“Modern day consumers don’t want to think too much and endlessly browse/calculate odds inside massive spreadsheets. They want instant gratification and low friction/effort type experiences. We are building a curated version of the sportsbook product that delivers contextual micro bets every 15-45 seconds, allowing users to bet on the most exciting thing that is happening in the game right now”.
He added “We were able to surpass our fundraising ambitions thanks to great strategic partners all of whom add value beyond capital. I am also proud that in this tough market we increased our post-money valuation by 60% doing so in only 10 months.”
HappyHour’s CEO Robin Reed said, “Kero is at the forefront of innovation in sports betting, and has a deep understanding of the customer and how they want to be entertained. As a strategic investor and lead in the current round, Happyhour is looking forward to working with Tomash and his team to bring this technology to casual bettors around the world.”
Other strategic investors from the gaming space echoed the enthusiasm for the 30 person company. Tim Heath, GP at Yolo Investments, another participant in the latest round, said: “Finding genuine innovation in the sports betting space is increasingly difficult, and that’s why we’ve been so impressed by Kero Gaming. Micro Betting has the potential to drive sportsbook growth over the coming years, and Kero’s algorithmic approach sets them apart from the others. We’ll be working closely with Tomash and the team to take this product to new audiences globally.”
Edward King, co-founder of Acies Investments, an early investor in Kero, added “Tomash has consistently exceeded expectations from our first investment in Kero. We are very pleased to further support him in this financing round as he continues to build the platform. Kero has the vision and capability to radically transform how fans engage and participate in sports entertainment.”
Traditional sports book products typically offer customers a lot of choice with complicated arrays of odds on bets for outcomes that may not take place for hours or sometimes days. Kero’s approach borrows heavily from mainstream entertainment platforms such as TikTok by removing complexity and curating highly contextual micro bets on outcomes that may happen in seconds or minutes.
The company initially productized its technology by working with pro sports teams across all American major leagues as a free to play fan engagement solution within their apps. Kero says that it will continue to focus on the free-to-play offering for pro sports while making heavy investments in scaling and growing its real money product for gaming operators.
Devenishek concluded “With this injection of capital and industry experience, we intend to continue focusing on our mission and bring about the next generation of sportsbook products even faster to markets like North America, Europe, LATAM and Asia”.
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