ASX Sports

ASX Expands C-Suite to Boost Offerings, Partnerships Ahead of Series A Funding

Published

2 years ago

December 17, 2021

New leadership team is headed by former Spotlight Sports Group Chief Revenue Officer, Mike Griffin

ASX Sports, the only next-generation virtual sports exchange to offer fans live in-game ‘trading’, today unveiled its executive team, positioning the firm to aggressively expand its innovative offerings and partnerships with sports leagues and franchises ahead of its Series A raise, which is expected to close in early 2022.

ASX is creating the first NFTs for sports with listed values that fluctuate in real-time, based on the underlying performance of players and demand in the marketplace. The Miami-based firm recently signed an exclusive agreement with Sky New Zealand and RugbyPass to bring a new generation of fantasy-style gaming to millions of rugby fans worldwide. Beta testing with English Premier League and NCAA Basketball games received overwhelmingly positive responses.

Joining the ASX team, which now numbers 30 employees, are Mike Griffin, Managing Director, Head of Revenue; Thalius Hecksher, Chief Investment Officer; Anthony Puntoriero, President of Business Development, North America; Laughlin Rigby, Chief Marketing Officer; and Ciro Vivacqua, Chief Technology Officer. They will all work closely with ASX President Paddy Power to scale up all aspects of the business and deliver on its growth trajectory.

Paddy Power, President at ASX said: “We now boast the most experienced and innovative leadership team in sports gaming entertainment. Building on our exclusive agreement with RugbyPass, we are poised to expand our partnerships and platform to transform the fan experience and usher in the next generation in fantasy gaming technology and interactivity.”

Mike Griffin has more than 25 years of executive experience in sports, gaming and media. Prior to ASX, he was instrumental in the formation of Spotlight Sports Group (where he also served as Chief Revenue Officer) which transformed the UK and Ireland’s leading sports betting publication the Racing Post into a data and technology company serving millions.

Thalius Hecksher has deep experience in capital introduction and fund management and will be instrumental in both the Series A process and ongoing investor relations. He is the founder of Hecksher Partners, a Miami-based company that invests in and advises innovators in fund management and related growth industries. Earlier in his career, he was global director at Trident Fund Services and Apex Fund Services.

Anthony Puntoriero is an innovator and sports marketing expert. He is the founder of Instant Sponsor, the creator of “Just in Time” branding and sponsorship programs used by major sports leagues around the world.

Laughlin Rigby is a digital marketing and transformation specialist with more than 20 years’ experience. He joins ASX from The Irish Times which he helped establish as the definitive brand for fantasy gaming and paid news and sports content in Ireland.

Ciro Vivacqua is an enterprise architect who brings cloud, big data, blockchain and SOA frameworks expertise to ASX. He has held IT leadership roles at companies in Ireland and Brazil, including the Ergo Group, B2W, Globo.com, Via Varejo and HP.

ASX’s Sports NFT Exchange resembles a virtual stock market and opens the door to a new era in fan engagement, creating a unique second screen and OTT experience in which fans enhance the value of their player portfolios via live, any-time ‘trading’, including in-game, when perceived value might change the most.

ASX Sports

ASX to Raise €750,000 on the Spark Crowdfunding Platform to Accelerate Growth in the US

Published

2 years ago

September 13, 2022

GamingAmericas.com

Following its hugely successful equity crowdfunding campaign in May 2021, in which it raised over €500,000 in 24 hours, ASX Sports, co-founded by eponymous bookmaker Paddy Power, has launched a new €750,000 crowdfunding campaign.

The funds are being raised using a SAFE (which stands for Simple Agreement for Future Equity) instrument, in which the share price is not fixed now, but instead is determined when the company raises funds again in the future. In the case of this SAFE, existing investors in ASX will receive a 33% discount on the share price at the next round, which is expected to be within the next 6-9 months.

So, for example, if the share price at the next round is €1, those who invest in the SAFE today will purchase shares at a 33% discount to this €1 share price, which equates to a share price of €0.67. Therefore, instead of receiving 1000 shares for a €1000 investment, the investor would receive 1492 shares for their €1000 investment. Another way to think about this is that the investor is getting an extra (or bonus of) 49% worth of shares.

In total, ASX raised €2.2m from over 800 investors on the Spark Crowdfunding platform within a month.

To coincide with the crowdfunding campaign, ASX Sports launched its new peer to peer contests, making it the first fantasy sports platform in the world to have fan contests running LIVE during games.

The technology allows players to create their own contests, and play against friends and fellow players for real money or sportzcoins. It will also enable sporting celebrities, eSports gamers and social media influencers to monetise their own followers and streamers via the gaming platform.

ASX Sports recently rolled out real money cash games to the U.S. market, allowing residents of 23 U.S. states to stake dollars to enter paid games for cash prizes. This was a significant milestone, enabling ASX Sports to accept eCommerce transactions on their platform.

Paddy Power, President at ASX Sports, said: “The launch of peer-to-peer games on ASX demonstrates our dedication to driving innovation in the fantasy sports market. It comes at a time when our beta app has been installed more than 20,000 times, with over 30,000 contest entries across 10 of the biggest sporting leagues and competitions in the world including the NFL, NBA, EPL, MLB and the Six Nations. In addition, our app has been ranked in the top 100 sports apps in 11 different countries now, including The United States, Ireland and South Africa. On top of this, SportsPro Media named ASX among the 20 sports tech start-ups to invest in for 2022.”

Paddy added: “The launch of our ‘Stocks for Sports’ Index games for NFL, Premier League and Rugby in Q3 will provide real growth in our revenue and position ASX Sports for a major fundraising exercise in the coming months.”