Decentralized sports betting marketplace DuelNow raises $11 million investment

DuelNow, a decentralized sports betting marketplace, has secured an $11 million investment, with $10 million from GEM Digital Limited and an additional $1 million from industry angel investors.

The group of angel investors includes figures such as Charlie Lee, the creator of Litecoin; Richard Ma, the founder & CEO of Quantstamp; Billy Markus, the creator of Dogecoin; as well as Crypto Rand, Mooncat, Marc van der Chijs, HardBank, Jonathan Lee, Joseph Cheong, Ethan (Rampage) Yau, and Dean Thomas, among others.

“This considerable investment delivers a strong message to the betting world – decentralized sports betting is here, and it’s here to stay,” DuelNow said in a statement. The platform utilizes the Ethereum Layer-2 blockchain Arbitrum to create "a truly peer-to-peer betting platform with absolute transparency and lightning-fast speeds." By eliminating the house, DuelNow offers lower fees, higher payouts, and a bettor-centric experience.

The $11 million in new capital will enable DuelNow’s team to focus on growth, increasing awareness, and establishing the platform in the blockchain-based sports betting space. “Bettors will begin to feel confident in their additional levels of control, freedom, and fairness,” the company said.

DuelNow seeks to remove heavy sign-up requirements, disadvantageous odds-making, financial exclusivity, and poor user experiences. NFL, MLB, NBA, and MMA fans can visit DuelNow to craft a custom betting experience that levels the playing field by removing the house advantage, DuelNow said. Additional sports will be added as the platform develops.