Underdog Invests in Regen for Responsible Gaming Tools

🎬 𝗪𝗪𝗪 𝗯𝘆 𝗡𝘂𝘅𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲 – 𝗕𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗮 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝟭 𝗶𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲! This time, we asked our experts for their take on the key questions shaping iGaming in 2026: • Who gets the power in 2026: innovators or those with the right partners? • What do pros fear more: new regulations or new player expectations? • Where should startups invest first: stability, personalization, or product expansion? Huge thanks to our guests for sharing their insights: 🎙 Alina Averyanova, Business Development Manager, INOUT GAMES 🎙 Andrés Villagómez Chiang, CEO & Founder, Basher Agency 🎙 Damien Richard, CEO, Trifecta Gaming Tune in now!

Underdog has invested in Regen through its responsible gaming innovation fund GuardDog, introducing an automated savings feature across its product where users can convert a portion of their wagers into real-world savings. The deal shows how RG tools can evolve beyond limits and exclusions into proactive, financial wellbeing infrastructure. Also in the news this week... �� InsightPlay.ai raises $500K seed round for enterprise AI → EWAGERS wants to build on the side bet culture in esports → Moon Intelligence launched a venture capital arm for real-money gaming startups. → Snoop Dogg and Trivelta have partnered to launch the “Dogg House Casino.” → Odds Assist has released Prediction Markets Pro, a new tool to bring data-driven edge to Kalshi and Polymarket. Read our newsletter to get all the startup and early-stage news from this week ⤵️ https://lnkd.in/ehyQ833T

Big milestone for us this week. We’ve officially filed the provisional patent for the core technology behind FanLink Systems. We aren't just building another "smart TV" gadget. We are building an interposer layer that fundamentally changes how live sports are consumed. The technology is complex, but the mission is simple: turn your living room into a global sports suite. The "Founding 10" units are entering assembly. Time to build. #PatentPending #IntellectualProperty #SportsBetting #EdgeAI #Startup

Gaming 2026: Where Venture Capital Finds Asymmetric Returns The gaming industry is entering a capital-efficient upcycle driven not just by content, but by platform leverage, infrastructure scale, and IP monetization depth. From a VC perspective, we see five investable signals shaping 2025–2026: 1. Blockbuster cycles reset risk appetite The confirmed launch of GTA VI (Nov 2026) and a dense AAA pipeline historically catalyze ecosystem-wide spend — benefiting not only publishers, but tools, infrastructure, and services that scale with content demand. 2. Hardware transitions create secondary winners The anticipated Nintendo Switch 2 is less about consoles and more about: * Developer enablement * Middleware adoption * Live-ops and cross-platform tooling * VC returns often accrue adjacent to hardware, not inside it. 3. Capital rotation into “picks & shovels” Studios remain hit-driven, but venture capital increasingly favors: AI-native game development tools Cloud gaming infrastructure Live-service analytics, monetization, and UGC platforms These businesses compound regardless of which title wins. 4. M&A validates scale and scarcity The $55B EA take-private and continued strategic activity from Tencent, Nvidia, and PIF-backed vehicles reinforce a clear signal: (Scaled gaming platforms and defensible tech stacks are scarce assets.) 5. Valuation premiums follow tech-enabled studios Studios and platforms integrating AI, data, and platform leverage are increasingly commanding 2–3x valuation multiples versus content-only peers. VC takeaway The next cycle in gaming will not be won by content alone. The most attractive investments sit at the intersection of IP, infrastructure, and enabling technology — where upside scales and downside is protected. At Playcraft Ventures, we invest with a thesis-driven approach across: 🎯 Developer tools 🎯 Gaming infrastructure & cloud 🎯 Platform-enabled IP ecosystems #VentureCapital #GamingVC #GameTech #AI #InteractiveEntertainment #PlaycraftVentures

Metaverse gaming is evolving into a powerful digital economy. Play-to-Earn systems are opening new revenue models, ownership-driven engagement, and competitive experiences for businesses and startups. For entrepreneurs, this is an opportunity to build scalable platforms where entertainment meets real economic value. To know more: https://lnkd.in/gKEHVf8H #Metaverse #VirtualEvents #Web3 #VirtualConcerts #VirtualReality #VirtualReality #NFTCommunity

The 2025 Global Sports Tech VC Report tells two stories: The loud one: 75% of capital ($5.8B) went to fan engagement. Napster Corp raised $3B. DAZN raised $2.4B. Investors are betting on billions of fans with immediate monetization. The quiet one: Performance analytics funding dropped from 31% to 18% of total deal flow. Wearables raised just $63.8M in 2025 vs. $3.5B over five years. Sounds like sector death. But look closer, it's market maturation. Three shifts matter: 1. Consolidation over proliferation Oura raised $900M while dozens of GPS tracker startups died. The market chose proven platforms over hardware experiments. 2. Computer vision changed the game AI pose estimation at 85-97% accuracy extracts biomechanics from video without sensors. Wearables must now focus on what cameras can't see, which are internal load, real-time biometrics, contextual data. 3. Recovery beats measurement Recovery/optimization tools raised $1.2B, the only athlete-focused category growing. Teams pay for outcomes (fewer injuries, faster recovery) not metrics The new funding bar:Peer-reviewed validation studies, ROI demonstrated in <6 months, Clinical-grade compliance & Integration with existing infrastructure Where this goes:The 18% funding share might be the new normal. But there's room for platforms that: 1. Aggregate multi-source data (wearables + vision + biometrics) 2. Prescribe actions, not just report numbers 3. Target underserved markets (youth development, recovery optimization) The market won't support 50 trackers. But it will support platforms that tell coaches: "Movement quality declined at high speeds, reduce sprint volume 30%, reassess in 4 weeks. Full report: https://lnkd.in/gQXaPFMx Where do you see performance analytics investment in 2026? Are we overestimating computer vision's disruption? #SportsTech #SportsAnalytics #PerformanceAnalytics #Wearables #VentureCapital

🎮 Games industry predictions for 2026: a make-or-break year for pandemic-era investments As part of a 2025 retrospective, I had the pleasure of sharing my thoughts with PocketGamer.biz alongside my dear Mobile Mavens colleagues on what lies ahead for the games industry in 2026. One of my key takeaways is this: Much will depend on the performance of game companies funded during the 2020–2021 investment boom fueled by the COVID pandemic. We’re now approaching the five-year mark since that unprecedented surge of capital, which makes 2026 a true make-or-break year for many of those investments. If these studios and startups deliver strong results, it could unlock a new wave of confidence and industry-wide backing. Huge thanks to Pocket Gamer for featuring our perspectives 🙌 👉 Link to the full article in the comments. GEM Capital, Kirill Gurskiy, CFA, Elina Khakimova, Mikhail Zorin, Dmitry Rudakov #GamingIndustry #GameDev #Investments #Startups #MobileGaming #VentureCapital #2026Predictions #MobileMavens

Visitt Pulls In $22 Million Series B: NEW YORK, NY, Visitt, the AI-native property operations platform, announced a $22 million Series B. 💡IdeaFire™️🔥 #IdeaFire #VC #VentureCapital

2026 started with a clear signal: SportsTech is now core institutional infrastructure. 💡 Over €2B deployed in the first 48 hours of the year alone. Infrastructure, data, and AI are no longer future theses. They are active allocations. What is shaping the market: ➡️ Tech-embedded infrastructure: smart stadiums, data platforms, fan engagement systems. ➡️ Accelerated M&A with expected $1B+ mega-deals and strategic transactions in the €50M–€500M range. ➡️ AI-driven performance, analytics, and operational automation attracting significant capital. ➡️ Rapid growth of prediction markets integrated into live broadcasts ➡️ Structural expansion in youth sports infrastructure and women’s performance technology. ➡️ €880B in private equity dry powder driving acquisition pressure SportsTech is no longer adjacent to sports. It is critical industry infrastructure. This is the context behind COREangels SportsTech: Smart capital backing founders building the next foundational layer of the global sports ecosystem. 🚀 #vc #venturecapital #investments #startups

We’re excited to announce our partnership with a16z speedrun to provide everyone in our next cohort with interviews to unlock additional resources!