Circl

Circl logo

Summary

Circl is a live-action sports game, bridging the gap between sports media, gaming & casual betting. Providing a new way for sports fans & non-sports fans alike to engage with live sport. Backed by Dutch Sport Tech, the company is now raising to build game experiences in almost every sport you can imagine.

• 2 new football game experiences launched, with lots more to come
• Licenses (operator/software) obtained from the UK Gambling Commission
• Live in the UK, with ambitions to launch Circl in US
• The global sports betting market to be worth $179.3bn by 2026 (8.33% CAGR)

Idea

The convergence between sports media, sports betting & consumer brands is the future of digital entertainment, giving birth to a totally new casual betting landscape.

The challenges:

Revenues from broadcasting rights have plateaued - Many sports broadcasters are seeking new ways to connect, monetise and grow their viewership.

We've seen sports betting firm’s innovation stifled by M&A and core offerings - Firms lack the capacity to create solutions for the new challenges of attracting, acquiring and engaging GEN Z & Millennial audiences.

Consumer brands fight for sports fan share of wallets - Brands such as Deliveroo, Just Eat & Dominoes are looking for more innovative ways outside of TV advertising to connect with their audiences.

Circl provides a new way for sports fans and non-sports fans alike, to watch and engage with live sport, together.

At the core of its concept is a super fun game that everyone can understand, enjoy and potentially win cash prizes.

The company hope that its low barrier to entry will act as an effective top of funnel proposition. Its initial traction shows that it will acquire customers at a significantly lower average CAC spend, compared to that seen in the sports betting market.

As the company grows, Circl believes that it will be able to connect with brands and offer customers more ways to win with Circl. Creating a win win fan engagement ecosystem for everyone involved.

Team

Will Hawkins (CEO, Co-Founder)

The creative one. Will is the visionary behind the original concept and has extensive product development experience. He has worked with high growth consumer scale ups, namely Push Doctor & AccessPay.

Most recently prior to Circl, he was at a Manchester-based design agency, helping drive innovation within a number of key clients such as The BBC & Co-Op.

Mark Quinn (CTO, Co-Founder)

The techie one. Mark has many years experience working in technology: architecting and developing enterprise level software applications. He has built Circl from the ground up and is growing its tech team.

He has spent most of his career in FinTech. Most recently prior to Circl, he was Director of Engineering at Mojo Mortgages, where he was responsible for all things tech.

Eddie Ross (NED, Co-Founder) - Part Time

The businessy one. Eddie has a passion for entrepreneurship, he is knowledgeable about building scalable businesses.

At Sky Bet, he was responsible for their mobile channel, including the launch of Super 6 - a F2P predictor game.

Most recently prior to Circl, he was part of the founding team at Mojo Mortgages where he led product and business development.

Advisory board:

Matt Steer (NED)

Nick Telson (NED)

Risks

As with any investment, investing in Circl carries a level of risk. Overall, based on the key risks highlighted below, the degree of risk associated with an investment in Circl is higher than in a company that's trading on a public market.

Early-stage investment

Circl is at one of the earliest stages of the business lifecycle, and the failure rate of companies at that stage is usually much higher than those at a later stage.

Illiquid investment

The number of transactions in shares of private companies is usually significantly lower than in public companies, typically resulting in it taking longer to sell shares in private companies at a price that is at least equal to the price that the shares were bought at. Accordingly, the Circl investment opportunity is considered to be higher risk than more liquid companies.