PlayOn, an Irish-owned fantasy sports gaming company based in Dublin and London is in the middle of the first of two fundraisings this year to raise about £9 million and has valued itself at £30 million.
Founder Killian Jones told potential investors in Dublin this week that PlayOn is also in talks to attract institutional investment. Jones said he wants to build the company—which has signed partnerships with NBA basketball and European Tour golf—into a business worth £250 million, according to the Irish Times.
The company wants to raise an initial £2 million from investors before June 2nd, for a 6.67 percent stake in the business. It will sell more shares later this year for a further 16 per cent stake.
“Following the recent announcement of our partnership with the NBA, we have launched Employment and Investment Incentive eligible fundraising round for Irish investors,” Jones said. “This will be followed by a larger institutional investment round in the second half of 2017, which will fuel our continued expansion into regulated markets. We expect that to be our last fundraising round, as we move towards profitability thereafter.”
PlayOn operates in regulated countries, such as Ireland, Britain and Australia. It has signed up users from more than 100 countries, according to the Times report. Jones said the business is also in talks with ATP tennis, the International Cricket Council and National Rugby League in Australia.
The business is still in a start-up phase and will have only revenues this year of less than £2 million, with a projected loss even higher than that figure. However, having built its technology platform and started rolling out licenses and partnerships, PlayOn is forecasting revenues of more than £10 million in 2018, and up to £72 million within a further five years, the Times report said.
