Tom Waterhouse, Chief Investment Officer of Waterhouse VC, the specialist investment fund for the global betting and gaming sector, heads to the U.S. again to look for new opportunities at G2E off the back of revealing another successful summer of investments.
The fund recently converted an option in cutting-edge crypto betting technology company Saintly. In February 2023, Waterhouse VC signed a three-year option to buy 20% of the top-tier platform, an option that was bought out in August for 2,180% above the option conversion price. This meant an extraordinary 23x return on the position within six months.
“I feel like we have a very good understanding of the products going into the online betting world and what will work” – Tom Waterhouse, whose family has been involved in the betting industry for more than 100 years.
Since its inception in August 2019, Waterhouse VC has achieved a gross total return of 2,422% as of 30 September 2023, assuming the reinvestment of all distributions. To maintain rigorous standards, the fund’s team scours the gaming sector for disruptors and niche-leading businesses worldwide.
Over the past few months, Brazil has been a particular area of interest. Another one of the current opportunities that Waterhouse VC is participating in is Betscanner. Much like an Oddschecker for crypto betting, Betscanner will compare odds for sporting events offered by crypto operators and is leveraged to benefit from the growth of both crypto betting and the Brazilian market.
Another investment that the fund is excited about is an emerging professional betting syndicate run by Tom Dry. After working for Tony Bloom, the world-renowned football betting pro and owner of English Premier League powerhouse Brighton FC, Dry developed his own tennis betting strategy. Waterhouse VC saw that the syndicate’s operational metrics were very impressive and the fund took the view that Dry had the ability to further scale the team, increase liquidity in tennis and also expand into other sports.
Waterhouse VC will continue to analyse the betting and gaming sector for further opportunities, with G2E being just the next step in this process.