NEW YORK, April 30, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Kutt, the leading social betting platform, announced today that it closed the first quarter of 2024 with a successful fundraise of over $1 million and that it has surpassed the 10,000 user mark. The company also commissioned a study of 1,000 bettors that clearly defines what social betting is and what users want — further cementing its ownership of the space
"Betting has been a social activity for thousands of years, so it's no surprise that consumers want the ability to facilitate and track wagers against their friends," said Sim Harmon, CEO and founder of Kutt. "If anything, bettors unquestionably prefer a more curated, social experience — they want to be part of a wider community and to be part of the conversation around sports, entertainment, and important events."
While sports betting has boomed across the country since the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) was overturned in 2018, established gambling companies have largely stuck to the tried-and-true format sportsbooks have been using for decades — traditional sports bets against the house. But consumer desire to experience more has increased as the betting industry has matured, with 82% of bettors interested in wagering directly against their friends and other individuals through a decentralized platform, according to Kutt's recently commissioned survey.
The survey found that, in addition to Kutt's traditional offerings, an overwhelming majority of bettors (80%) are interested in wagering on non-sporting events, with 77% wanting to bet on entertainment, 62% interested in wagering on politics, and 60% with a desire to bet on life events. Kutt allows users to wager with friends on any event with publicly verifiable results, making it the ultimate "put your money where your mouth is" destination for fans. The survey also shed light on some compelling aspects and trends among current bettors, including:
- A higher percentage of bettors surveyed placed a wager with a friend in the past year (61%) vs. a sportsbook (60%)
- More than half of U.S. bettors (54%) have betting group chats with friends
- A majority of U.S. bettors (60%) text their friends about the progress of a bet while watching a game
Adding further validity to the findings of the survey and the demand for a real-money social betting experience is Kutt's recent $1 million+ institutional fundraise, led by Lightning Capital, a firm that invests in digital assets and online communities. The investment will fuel initiatives aimed at growing the Kutt community, enhancing user experiences, and expanding betting markets.
"We look for emerging companies in high-growth industries to invest in," stated Jock Percy, General Partner at Lightning Capital. "Kutt's enthusiastic user base, rapidly growing partnership portfolio, and their differentiated product offering were very attractive to us. We are eager to help them continue to define and own the social betting space."
Kutt offers exactly what the new generation of bettors and those who answered the survey are looking for — an online and mobile social experience that allows them to bet against their friends or other users on the events that matter to them. Traditional platforms pigeonhole users to high-vig betting opportunities and odds determined by a centralized sportsbook offering the same events as every other platform. Kutt's curated experience delivers exactly what respondents in this survey describe as their desires in a betting platform.
About Kutt
Kutt (www.kutt.com) is THE Social Betting Platform™ — a social-first P2P betting platform that allows users to bet directly against each other on sports, politics, pop culture, and other events with verifiable outcomes. Kutt's unique platform resembles a betting social network, with user profiles, chat capabilities, betting leaderboards, head-to-head history, and fan groups for users with shared interests. Kutt also offers fully customizable odds, and much lower vig compared to traditional platforms. With Kutt, users can create their own bets/terms and be rewarded with cash back for every single bet they make on the platform. Since Kutt handles all the payments, no one ever has to worry about settling up after a bet is finalized, making it easier than ever to "put your money where your mouth is!" Kutt is venture-backed, based in the US, and legal in ~40 states. Follow Kutt on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok: @KuttBet!