Rivalry announces $10M investment to accelerate growth, scale strategic verticals

Canadian sportsbook and iGaming operator Rivalry has announced a capital injection to accelerate growth, scaling several strategic verticals across marketing, product development, and geographic expansion as the company eyes profitability in H1 2024.

The company unveiled a non-brokered private placement offering of convertible debentures and the closing of the first part of an investment for aggregate gross proceedings of CAD 14 million (USD 10.2 million). The investment comprising this initial closing came from an existing institutional shareholder. 

Each convertible debenture will consist of CAD 1,000 ($728) principal amount of 10% senior secured convertible debentures of the company, maturing on 14 November 2027. The net proceeds received by Rivalry are expected to be used to fund general working capital and corporate purposes. 

Steven Salz, Co-founder and CEO of Rivalry

Steven Salz, Co-founder and CEO of Rivalry, said: “We are very pleased to receive the support of a long-standing institutional shareholder of Rivalry with this investment. Rivalry’s unique product mix and position in the marketplace have brought the business to the inflection point it’s reached today. We're deeply confident in the underlying trends the business is showing and maintain our expectation to achieve profitability in H1 2024.

“Strengthening our balance sheet positions the company to maximize the opportunity in front of us. The capital will enable Rivalry to accelerate the development and release of new products, expand marketing efforts, and extend into new geographies and verticals, setting us on a path where we can pursue growth and profitability at the same time.”

In recent related news, Rivalry announced the launch of a free-to-play basketball fantasy game with Low6, where users can combine desk-building with daily fantasy sports through its new free NBA-themed app. 

“Rivalry Ultimate Fan applies our Gen Z playbook to the world of fantasy sports to engage the next generation of basketball fans and strategically position our brand within a new vertical,” said Salz during the launch.