Manchester-based sports tech start-up Circl has launched a social betting app after receiving £375,000 in investment and is seeking to raise a further £2m to scale the business.
The start-up has launched a ‘live-action’ social sports betting app following receipt of £375,000 investment led by Dutch Sport Tech Fund, combined with various angel syndicates.
The tech company plans to raise a further £2m in the next 12 months to create additional jobs and to grow into the US and European countries.
Through its app, the company aims to connect friends and change the way they watch and bet on live sports.
The leadership team includes founder and CEO Will Hawkins, CTO Mark Quinn and CFO Eddie Ross. Prior to launching the tech company, Hawkins was a product manager at Push Doctor and AccessPay while Quinn was a director of engineering at Mojo Mortgages. Ross was the former head of mobile at SkyBet.
Circl is part of the Exchange, a digital and technology start-up support programme, based at Department Bonded Warehouse in Enterprise City, Manchester.
Will Hawkins, CEO of Circl, said: “We want to make the spectacle of a live game even better and increase the feeling of inclusion for those with no allegiance to, or interest in, the teams playing. Whilst we are starting with the world’s most popular sport football, we cannot wait to bring Circl to other sports, and even e-sports.”
He added: “We want to distance ourselves from the stigma of betting. Circl aims to boost social inclusion through ‘low buy-in’, group-based participation, rather than the exclusion and addiction that traditional forms of betting often generate. Circl’s innately social concept will power growth in a competitive market at a fraction of the typical acquisition cost seen in this space.”
Circl also plans to donate a proportion of its profits to grassroots football in the UK in a bid to reinvest in the sport.
