“In the last few hours, our dream became real, and our company just became substantially more valuable.” That’s the title to a blog post published Monday describing the excitement from the folks at Unikrn. The Seattle startup was celebrating today after the Supreme Court ruled that a federal ban enacted in 1992 on sports betting is unconstitutional, allowing states to legalize sports betting and creating a flurry of business opportunity for companies like Unikrn. Founded in 2014, Unikrn runs an esports betting platform. The company is venture backed and also raised $31 million in an initial coin offering this past October for UnikoinGold, a cryptocurrency created by Unikrn that can… Read More
Seattle esports betting startup Unikrn continues to grow and today announced another acquisition. The company has swooped up Berlin-based ChallengeMe.GG, an esports matchmaking service and long-time tournament partner of Unikrn. Unikrn CEO Rahul Sood said it was a multi-million dollar acquisition and called it “one of the biggest deals of my career.” Unikrn said it will create the “first crypto gaming platform” with the acquisition. “This is going to be the platform we use to bring skill-based betting products to our users as well,” Sood said in a blog post. “Remember, Unikrn has patent-pending technology on placing crypto bets on… Read More
TAYLOR’S TAKE ON THE WEEK IN SPORTS TECH: It’s shaping up to be an epic Masters in Augusta this weekend. The annual pro golf major tournament is off to an exciting start, with 2015 champ Jordan Spieth jumping out to a first round lead after shooting a 6-under 66 on Thursday. Patrick Reed, Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson, Rickie Fowler, and other stars are atop the leaderboard as well. All eyes are also on Tiger Woods, who shot a 1-over 73, as the legend miraculously finds himself back in the mix among golf’s elite again. IBM powers the digital experience for The… Read More
Jason Flick isn’t a player on the pitch for the Seattle Sounders FC. But he will be representing the team in competition this season, and he’s even ready to take on some of the pros who play soccer for a living. Flick is a pro in his own right, as an eports gamer, and he’s one of a handful of players chosen to compete in eMLS, a new competitive gaming league organized in partnership with EA Sports. “I’ve been playing ‘FIFA’ on console for about 10 years, creating content on YouTube for over five years now,” said Flick, who is… Read More
The International could be heading north. Valve isn’t yet talking publicly about its plans, but several clues point to the video-game giant moving its huge Dota 2 esports tournament from its backyard in Seattle across the border to Vancouver, B.C. The International is one of the largest esports events in the U.S., drawing sold-out crowds that pack KeyArena to watch the world’s top Dota 2 players compete for a $24.7 million prize pool. The tournament, which started in Germany six years ago, was previously held at Seattle’s Benaroya Hall before Valve moved it in 2014 to a larger venue at… Read More
