Investors up stakes in sports bets game

HUBDUB, a games technology firm with offices in Edinburgh and Manhattan, has raised a further $1.3 million (£819,000) from existing investors, including Pentech Ventures and Piton Capital, taking its total raised to $7m.

The company produces fantasy sports game Fan- Duel, which focuses on American sports.

Although it allows online betting, the game is exempt under the United States’ strict 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act as it is classified as a game of skill, not of chance.

The firm, which originated in Edinburgh University’s technology centre at King’s Buildings, launched its first game in 2008. A news aggregator that allowed members to bet on the outcomes of various top stories, punters correctly predicted the results of US presidential elections and The X Factor.

The firm was founded by four Britons: Edinburgh informatics postgraduate Tom Griffiths, creative director Rob Jones, technical director Chris Stafford, chief executive Nigel Eccles and his wife, marketing director Lesley.

Eccles, a pure maths graduate from St Andrews University, is also a former business development executive for the publishers of The Scotsman.

FanDuel was launched in July 2009 and is now the leading single-day fantasy sports game for a number of sporting leagues in the US.

FanDuel’s makers say it gave out more than $10m in fantasy payouts in 2011 and is expected to pay out up to $4m per month for the baseball season.

The game is available online and through various media outlets such as the New York Post, the Orange County Register, the St Petersburg Times, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News.