Dallas sports data analytics startup nVenue raises $3.5 million for ‘micro bets’

Dallas-based data analytics startup nVenue has raised $3.5 million in a recent funding round for its technology that predicts what will happen next in live sports games.

The female-led tech startup was co-founded in 2018 by Kelly Pracht, who led teams focused on supercomputing at HP in recent years, former director of finance at Tinder, Drew Williams, and Verizon veteran Bruce Sears.

Pracht and the company’s chief technology officer, Mik Stearns, previously worked together at HP developing systems that predicted weather patterns or simulated the nuclear stockpile, she said. Splitting off to found nVenue allowed her to apply that know-how to something she was passionate about.

Pracht, nVenue’s CEO, is a self-described die-hard sports fan who sees predictive analytics that enable what’s called “micro-betting” as one more way to pull viewers into live sporting events. Rather than simply betting on the outcome of a game or a score, people can place bets on small in-game events, like a player’s at-bat or a specific pitch.

“It’s very engaging to me. It’s how I related to family and friends,” Pracht said, referring to live sports. “Even people who aren’t sports fans enjoy the game when you can get into it … when you have a little bit of knowledge about what’s going to happen, like ‘Hey, I bet y’all [Jose] Altuve hits a home run,’ you can all root together or root against each other. It’s very social to me.”

The company’s algorithm works with professional football and baseball leagues. Pracht said the millions in capital will allow them to expand into other sports, including the NBA and NHL. Originally the product was intended to be marketed directly to consumers through a smartphone app, but the company is now focused on partnering with sports networks and other sports businesses.

Pracht also anticipates growing nVenue’s team from nine employees to 20 by the end of 2022 and opening a physical office in Dallas this summer for executives and the product team.

Last year, nVenue was part of the first Comcast NBCUniversal Sports Tech Accelerator class. After completing the accelerator, its technology was used by the network and announcers during a real-time broadcast.

While sports betting isn’t yet legal in Texas, it has been made legal in dozens of states in recent years. Professional sports teams, gaming companies and lawmakers tried and failed to overturn Texas’ ban on sports betting in the last legislative session but have said they’ll continue to push for legalization.

The startup has raised $4.3 million to date. Pracht said she hopes her funding success can be an inspiration to other women in tech and sports.

“There’s not enough of us,” she said.

This most recent funding round was led by Chicago-based KB Partners and Corazon Capital.

“nVenue’s micro-betting technology will unlock previously unimaginable ways for fans to engage with the games they love,” Corazon Capital co-founder, former CEO of Match Group and OkCupid co-founder Sam Yagan said in a statement. “nVenue’s novel algorithms differentiate it from anything else available in the market and unlock widespread sports betting opportunities.”