Startups Investment Recap – September 29

Michael Jordan raises stake in sports gambling data company Sportradar

Basketball great Michael Jordan will increase his investment in Sportradar Group AG (SRAD.O) and will serve as a special adviser to the company’s board, the sports gambling data company said on Monday.

Sport-focused NFT start-ups raise over $900 million in crypto gold rush

Two start-ups in the red-hot NFT market raised a combined $930 million this week, highlighting continued appetite from investors for cryptocurrency companies as the industry experiences massive growth.

Softbank leads $680m funding of blockchain NFT game Sorare at $4.3 bn valuation

Sports non-fungible token (NFT) platform Sorare raised a Series B round of $680 million at a $4.3 billion valuation. The financing was led by SoftBank and is the biggest Series B round in Europe.

Boom Entertainment raises $15M to redefine sports betting and casino gaming for the digital world

Boom Entertainment, the creator of popular sports gaming apps such as NBC Sports Predictor, has announced a $15M Series A led by Sands Capital to fuel the company’s expansion into real-money gaming products.

Aussie AI sport analytics startup Gameface.AI has been acquired for almost $33 million

Sports equipment giant Slinger Bags has aqcuired 100% of the AI and Machine Learning Tech in exchange for 6.6 million shares of Slinger’s common stock, plus up to $3.5 million subject to earning considerations.