The Betting Startups Podcast
Meet the people building the most promising startups competing for a piece of the multi-billion dollar real-money gaming industry. Presented by Optimove.
Episodes
Ep. 172 features Richard Acosta from Vor Interactive, a UK-based sports data provider creating proprietary first-party data and predictive models.
Hear him discuss:
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How a soccer algorithm built by his co-founder sparked Vor's launch and first predictive model
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Why their proprietary data now generates 2,000+ prediction points per soccer match across 50+ global leagues
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How they’ve expanded from soccer into NFL, college sp...
Ep. 171 features Ben Howard from EdgeSports, which offers sports data and predictive AI at your fingertips. Ben shares how the company is capitalizing on the growth of live betting, building modular tech for both consumers and B2B clients, and bootstrapping the business using its own prediction engine.
Hear them discuss:
- The journey from sneaker software to Penn Entertainment to founder
- How a winning parlay sparked the earli...
Ep. 170 features John Wright from StatsDrone, a business intelligence platform helping affiliates eliminate revenue leak and unlock more value from their data. John shares how the company is centralizing fragmented affiliate stats, building tools for operators, and uncovering hidden opportunities in iGaming’s affiliate ecosystem.
Hear them discuss:
- The origin story from professional gambler to affiliate tech founder
- How reve...
Ep. 169 features Steven Kenway from Rolling Insights, a multi-sport data platform delivering reliable data to everyone from sharp bettors to startup founders. Steven shares how the team built powerful analytics tools and a developer-friendly API ecosystem to level the playing field in sports data access.
Hear them discuss:
• How Rolling Insights spun out of a real estate startup and consultancy • Why Steven believes most fantasy ...
Ep. 168 features Davis Catlin from Discerning Capital, which invests at the intersection of betting, sports, media, and technology. This episode was recorded on-site at SBC Summit North America 2025 in Fort Lauderdale.
Hear him discuss:
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Why starting Discerning Capital gave him new empathy for founders
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Building a deal-by-deal investor network in a regulated industry
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The playbook behind their first investment in Australia...
Ep. 167 features Gino Donati from BetOPENLY, a peer-to-peer betting exchange eliminating the traditional sportsbook model by letting users bet directly against each other at true odds. This episode was recorded on-site at SBC Summit North America 2025 in Fort Lauderdale.
Hear him discuss:
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Growing up in a sports-betting Italian family and booking bets in high school
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How running numbers for syndicates gave him a window into...
Ep. 166 features Steve “Dakota” Happas and Sahil Patel from FantasySpin, a real-money DFS platform reinventing the fantasy experience through a gamified, slot-style draft mechanic. This episode was recorded on-site at SBC Summit North America 2025 in Fort Lauderdale. Hear them discuss:
- How a friendly fantasy football bet led to the founding of BettorFantasy
- Steve’s journey from online poker and dating platforms to fantasy spo...
Recorded live at SBC Summit Americas 2025 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, this episode recaps the excitement of the First Pitch competition.
In this episode, you'll hear from all five startup finalists just hours before they took the stage, and at the end of the episode, we bring back the winner for a celebratory chat fresh off their victory.
The five startups that competed for a prize package valued at over $100,000 were:
Ep. 164 features Alexander Monahan from OddsJam, a data-driven sports betting platform acquired by Gambling.com Group in a deal worth up to $160 million. Alex returns to the podcast after first joining in early 2023 to share what has changed and what has stayed the same since the nine-figure exit.
Hear them discuss:
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What life looks like after a $160M acquisition
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Why he is still focused on helping bettors win with data
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H...
Ep. 163 features Mark Antal from Staked AI, which is crafting an Amazon Alexa-like AI for sports to deliver personalized, real-time audio content. This episode was recorded on-site at the NEXT Summit New York in March 2025 with guest host, Thomas Coiner.
Hear them discuss:
- How his background in AI and machine learning at Vault AI led to building Staked AI
- Why audio is a breakthrough for sports engagement
- The importance of ti...
Ep. 162 features Owen Monagan and Oisin Tiernan from Layup, which is a FinTech company providing a gamified savings product that turns interest into free sports picks. This episode was recorded on-site at the NEXT Summit New York in March 2025.
Hear them discuss:
- Their journey from building a Fantasy Premier League app together to launching Layup
- How growing up with “prize bonds” in Ireland inspired Layup’s concept
- Why their...
Ep. 161 features Aishik Lala from Rotobot AI, an AI-driven platform tackling fantasy football’s information overload with personalized insights. This episode was recorded on-site at the NEXT Summit New York in March 2025.
Hear him discuss:
- How ChatGPT’s rise inspired a chatbot to answer fantasy football questions
- The launch of a simple web app in 2...
Ep. 160 features Sebastian from Plucky, which is pioneering "gambling as a service," enabling brands with an audience to offer real money gaming without getting involved in regulation. This episode was recorded on-site at the NEXT Summit New York in March 2025.
Hear him discuss:
- Winning the Starties award for Best Collaboration after partnering with Genius Sports to monetize free-to-play games
- The deal with The Sun, monetiz...
Ep. 159 features Aman Agarwal and Jatin Narang from Toast, building live multiplayer skill games with built-in player liquidity for real money iGaming. This episode was recorded at the World Trade Center during the NEXT Summit New York in March 2025.
Hear them discuss:
- Toast’s origins: uniting Aman’s gambling roots and Jatin’s free-to-play expertise
Ep. 158 features Shivam Shorewala from Rimble, a next-generation esports odds and analytics platform powering player props and beyond. This episode was recorded in person at the NEXT Summit New York in March 2025.
Hear him discuss:
- How his early days at SimpleBet sparked the idea for Esports micro markets
- Why messy esports data forced a pivot to pr...
Ep. 157 features Will Martin from LiveDuel, a decentralized blockchain-based betting exchange aiming to simplify sports betting with crypto innovations. This episode was recorded on-site at the NEXT Summit New York in March 2024.
Hear him discuss:
- How a $300 TikTok filter campaign for the 2022 World Cup won Marketing Genius at The Starties
- The orig...
Ep. 156 features KB from Pick The Odds, which is a cutting-edge sports betting data platform providing real-time odds, arbitrage opportunities, and historical betting insights.
Hear him discuss:
- How his background in eSports data and machine learning led to launching Pick The Odds
- The conversation at an Eagles game that sparked the idea for his platform
- How Pick The Odds collects and updates lines from over 100 sportsbooks i...
Ep. 155 features Co-Founders Ty D'Amore and Justin Järvinen from Bankroll U, which is a platform designed to educate bettors while providing a gamified environment that mimics real-money betting. Hear them discuss:
- How a barrage of sportsbook ads sparked the idea for BankrollU
- Why simulated betting is the best way to learn without going broke
- The unique progression system that lets users prove they can win before earning real...
Ep. 154 features Travis Geiger, who joins Jesse in this special episode that zooms in on the upcoming Starties awards show on March 12. Hear them discuss:
- Their reflections on the crazy journey in the last 30 days since The Starties were announced
- A look into the 250+ nominations that were submitted for the 9 award categories
- The creation of the Starties Academy, and the inspiration behind creating a voting committee to ensu...
Ep. 153 features Tyler Amirault and James White from HotTakes, which is the ultimate free-to-play sports betting simulator.
Hear them discuss:
- How their time at Western University led to HotTakes, starting as a passion project before becoming a full-time venture
- The idea behind HotTakes—letting sports fans try betting for free, win real cash prizes, and learn without risk
- Their business model, which monetizes user attention ...
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