Daily Fantasy Sports Operator, FanDuel, Closes $11M Series C And Welcomes Comcast Ventures as an Investor

NEW YORK, Jan. 30, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- FanDuel Inc, (http://www.fanduel.com), the leading daily fantasy sports game operator, announced today that it has closed $11M in Series C financing from new investor Comcast Ventures, existing investors Piton Capital, Pentech Ventures, Bullpen Capital and serial investor Richard Koch. Andrew Cleland, a partner at Comcast Ventures, the venture capital affiliate of Comcast Corporation, has joined FanDuel's board.

"FanDuel has done an exceptional job in establishing itself as the leading player in the next generation of fantasy sports," said Andrew Cleland, Partner, Comcast Ventures. "We see a clear opportunity to introduce the game to a broader set of sports fans and I'm excited to begin working with the company."

Currently 40 employees strong, FanDuel will use the funds to expand their teams in New York and Edinburgh, and to continue to introduce new features to their players across North America.  

Nigel Eccles, FanDuel's founder and CEO, said, "With this funding round, we set out to broaden our shareholder base and I am delighted to welcome Comcast Ventures as a new investor in FanDuel. Raising this additional funding will allow us to continue to innovate our daily fantasy sports product and considerably expand our user base."

With more than 30 million people playing fantasy sports, FanDuel is transforming the industry with its innovative take on the format. The company has grown rapidly over the past 12 months, developing mobile offerings and signing partnerships with brands such as Sports Illustrated and Sporting News. In 2012 alone, the company paid out $50 million in league winnings, up from $10 million in the previous year, and had over 6 million fantasy line-ups entered into their daily leagues.

FanDuel differs from traditional fantasy sports where league winners are only declared after the entire multi-month season ends. With FanDuel, the leagues last one day and prizes are paid out immediately by the site as soon as games finish.

About FanDuel

FanDuel is the leading daily fantasy sports game providing fantasy sports leagues that last just one day. It enables consumers to draft fantasy sports teams at any time in head-to-head or multi-player contests. Players pay an entry fee for each contest and vie for cash payouts awarded to the player whose team generates the most fantasy points. It now sees over 250,000 line-up entries every week.  Headquartered in New York with offices in Edinburgh, FanDuel hosts fantasy football, baseball, hockey and basketball contests.  FanDuel launched in 2009 and won Techcrunch's Best Sports and Entertainment Award 2010. It was also nominated for the Europas Best Gaming or Social Games Start Up 2013.

FanDuel investors include Bullpen Capital, Comcast Ventures, Pentech Ventures, Piton Capital, Scottish Enterprise (through Scottish Investment Bank) and Richard Koch.  For more information, please visit http://www.fanduel.com. 

Contact details
Lesley Eccles
Marketing Director & Co-Founder
lesley@fanduel.com