Jake Paul’s Sports Betting Startup, Betr Lands $50M Investment

Jake Paul has launched a sports betting company that just raised $50 million in funding. Florida Funders invested $5 million into Betr, a Miami-based mobile betting company co-founded by the YouTuber-turned-professional boxer and wrestler. Not only was it the largest investment in Betr’s $30 million Series A round — alongside investments from rapper Travis Scott, pro football players Ezekiel Elliott, Richard Sherman, Dez Bryant and more — it’s Florida Funders’ largest single investment to date.

Betr’s oversubscribed $30 million Series A round was quickly followed by a $20 million Series A1, bringing the total investment announced Monday to $50 million.

“With legalization expanding across the country, now is the time for Betr to enter the market and we couldn’t be more thrilled to lead this round,” Florida Funders managing partner Tom Wallace said in a statement. “Betr’s technology is leading the micro-betting community and it was an obvious choice for us to back the company, product, and brand in the booming tech hub of Miami. In addition, with the brand reach of influencer and co-founder Jake Paul, Betr has an unmatchable go-to-market strategy built right in.”

Co-founded by South Florida native Joey Levy, Betr’s focus is micro-betting, which allows users to place instant in-game bets on things like football downs or baseball at-bats. The app will launch around the start of the NFL season, said Saxon Baum, Florida Funders’ head of investor relations, and will be free to play everywhere, with betting available on a state-by-state basis. The startup also announced plans to launch a sports media company built around Paul.

“I wasn’t into sports betting until I was introduced to micro-betting,” Paul said in a statement. “Micro-betting is the TikTok-ification of sports betting and I am excited to bring it to the masses through Betr.”

Florida Funders, which closed a $60 million investment fund earlier this year, has already invested more than $20 million into some three dozen companies, including Tampa blockchain services company Pocket Network and Tampa health startup Peerfit, which earlier this year sold to celebrity-backed fitness app FitOn. More than half of its investments are with Florida companies.

Baum said Betr’s target audience will be Jake Paul’s demographic of Gen-Z, Gen-Y and millennial bettors who may not be as familiar with traditional wagering. That strategy, he said, can push Betr into the upper eschelon of sports betting apps as more and more states allow sports gambling.

“Our goal, and the Betr goal, is for this to be one of the largest consumer products ever to come out of the state of Florida, and that’s what we’re excited about,” Baum said. “We’re hoping that in a few years it’s DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM and Betr.”