This week: RubyPlay acquires Splash Tech for jackpot, F2P solutions

The news: RubyPlay has agreed to acquire 100% of Splash Tech’s shares in its first-ever acquisition, expanding the supplier beyond game content into platform-level engagement tools. The deal folds Splash Tech’s jackpot and free-to-play technology into RubyPlay’s existing suite of free spins, rewards, missions and tournaments. Financial terms weren’t disclosed, and the transaction is still subject to regulatory approval.

Zoom in: Splash Tech’s flagship jackpot product lets operators run jackpots across content from multiple game suppliers rather than being locked into one studio’s catalog. RubyPlay CEO Tsachi Maimon said the deal means RubyPlay is “moving beyond the traditional content silo to firmly establish RubyPlay as a premium content and engagement platform provider.”

Why it matters: Splash Tech was founded in 2020 by Adam Wilson, who’d worked in affiliate marketing at bwin and 888 before building swipe-betting startup Bookee. Wilson joined us on the podcast back in 2024 where he put his finger on the dynamic now playing out in this deal: “our industry is handicapped by the fact that barely anyone owns their own tech stack… so it’s kind of our job as a third party supplier to bring the innovation.” That’s the gap RubyPlay is buying its way into, adding engagement tech to a studio roster that already spans Koala Games, Mad Hat Games, xSlots and Firerose.

The news: Edinburgh-based payments orchestration firm BR-DGE has raised £10m, with US gaming investor Bettor Capital joining the round alongside the company’s existing Scotland-based family office backer. The capital will fund platform development, go-to-market expansion, and new market and product launches in H2 2026.

Zoom in: BR-DGE has reportedly grown platform volumes 15-fold in under two years and expects to top 100M transactions a month by year-end—a number that reflects how quickly it’s scaling inside regulated gaming. CEO Thomas Gillan said “the next generation of payment infrastructure is not about moving money; it’s about optimising every transaction.”

Why it matters: Bettor Capital’s investment signals that payments infrastructure is becoming a priority for gaming-focused VCs. The firm’s previous portfolio includes Enteractive and BeyondPlay (acquired by FanDuel), and BR-DGE fits the same thesis of critical, behind-the-scenes rails that operators can’t afford to get wrong.

Flutter’s Alpha Hub is back with the Affiliate Draft 2026, and applications are now open. The program connects founders with Flutter’s affiliate and product teams to build the next wave of sports betting experiences, this year focused on AI-powered fan tools, community platforms, and new ideas that blend sports betting with entertainment. 

Selected startups get real-world pilots across Flutter brands, direct mentorship from their affiliate and product leaders, and a path to commercial partnership with one of the biggest companies in the space. Applications are free and open to teams at any stage. The deadline is August 1. Apply now.

The news: Blitz, a sports intelligence platform co-founded by Devon Sinha and Tejas Srinivasan, is building an AI-powered infrastructure product for broadcasters, analysts, and content creators, covering eight leagues from inception with a research chatbot, real-time insights engine, and auto-generated previews and recaps. The company bootstrapped through 2025 on the founders’ own sports betting winnings before raising a friends-and-family round in early 2026, with a venture round expected in the coming months.

Zoom in: The founders built their edge the hard way—correlative bets sportsbooks weren’t pricing, running from a $100 deposit into tens of thousands before sportsbooks caught on, limiting or in some cases, banning them all together. That same infrastructure of historical databases, automated validation, multi-source cross-referencing is now Blitz. “You can’t really take any shortcuts in this space,” Srinivasan told us on the podcast.

Why it matters: Blitz’s pivot from a shelved consumer betting app to B2B infrastructure reflects a broader shift among sports-data startups toward serving broadcasters and analysts who’ve relied on fragmented dashboards. With official providers prioritizing live feeds over historical accuracy, the market opening may be less about better betting tools and more about who can own the cleanest underlying dataset.

We sat down with the co-founders to hear more about their story where they’re taking the startup next–listen on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts..

• Prospect Markets signed a letter of intent with Crypto.com-backed OG Broker to launch CFTC-regulated sports event contracts in the US, targeting a Q3 2026 product launch.

• Fantasy Life named RotoWire co-founder Peter Schoenke as CEO to lead the fantasy sports company’s next phase of growth.

• Waterhouse VC makes the case that land-based casinos’ edge is permission, place and people—pointing to the firm’s new option in Slot Check as the digital layer closing the gap.

Big opportunities with awesome growth-stage companies, brought to you by BettingJobs.

• 🆕 Establish The Run is hiring a part-time NFL Projections Analyst to review projections, flag player news and injury updates, and keep data current during the Thursday–Sunday workflow. Remote. (View job)

• Splash Sports is hiring a Senior Growth Analyst to own attribution end-to-end — building models and reporting across a 2M+ user base. Remote. (View job)

• Outlier is hiring a Product Marketing Manager to own positioning, GTM strategy, and product launches for a subscription-based sports betting analytics platform. Remote (USA). (View job)

Catch up on the latest episodes of The BettingStartups Podcast.

You’ve made it to the end of the newsletter—seems like you should probably subscribe if you haven’t already.

Are you a startup in real-money gaming looking to announce a new product launch, partnership, or funding round? Get it on our radar! Email: [email protected]