PandaScore raises $6M to drive esports betting with AI-powered data

PandaScore, a startup that provides real-time data for the esports betting industry, has raised €5 million (~$6M) in recent funding. The funds will be used to expand the company’s products for bookmakers, enabling more and better esports betting experiences.

Paris-founded startup PandaScore, which supplies esports bookmakers with AI-powered statistics and odds, announces today that it has raised €5M (~$6M) in funding. The round is led by Serena, with other investors in the round being Alven, sports-tech investor KB Partners and esports owner and investor aXiomatic Gaming.

Esports is estimated to have close to 500 million fans worldwide and the industry accounts for about $1bn in global revenues. Still, it has room to grow when it comes to betting. PandaScore’s real-time AI-powered odds empower betting traders to better leverage this massive entertainment industry.

“Providing game-changing data for bookmakers is our way to fuel the growth of esports,” says PandaScore founder and CEO Flavien Guillocheau. “When bookmakers can offer great esports betting it also helps in raising sponsorships for teams and tournaments.”

Collecting data in real-time from ongoing esports matches and from official sources, PandaScore uses its proprietary artificial intelligence to sift out and analyze the most useful pieces of information as it happens. Betting traders gain an edge utilizing machine learning to set better odds and a larger esports offering.

“Bookmakers are some of the most data dependent companies out there,” says Mr. Guillocheau. “With esport tournaments and fantasy leagues becoming a more significant component of sportsbook offerings around the world, access to PandaScore’s abundance of real time esports odds and data is vital to all the bookmakers we work with. Our vision is to help esports grow by providing the data resources for any esports business.”

PandaScore taps into the trend of a new generation tuning in to esports for entertainment and betting just as much as their older peers have done with traditional sports. The trend has only been emphasized by the recent lockdowns in many countries, which have disrupted regular sports more than they have the online gaming esports industry.

Pandascore has recently signed some of the fastest growing companies in the esports entertainment and esports betting industries as clients, including fantasy esports company Sleeper and leading companion app Strafe, esports betting platform Pixelbet and leading LATAM sportsbook BetCris. The company will use the new funding for further expansion, including hiring for the team in Paris and in Malta, as well as to cover more esport titles.