Why Bet on Jackpocket?
Betting Against the Odds
When you’ve been in the venture capital game long enough, you learn to quickly recognize a winning opportunity. Our team at BRV has been in the business for two decades, during which we’ve placed some big bets that have led to supersized returns for our LPs. The odds of investing in the right founder, going after the right market, at just the right time is about as rare as winning the lottery. We’ve picked the winning numbers quite a few times and it’s not just luck.
When we met Pete Sullivan, the CEO of Jackpocket, we knew we had to place a bet on this extraordinary founder with an audacious mission to improve the global $300 billion lottery experience. We led Jackpocket’s Series A two years ago, at a time when most other institutional investors were too nervous to get involved in such a regulated, edgy category. And as it turns out, the timing was perfect.
Redefining a Category
In most US states, the only way to purchase lottery tickets is inconveniently at a convenience store. Jackpocket eliminates this hassle. Using the Jackpocket mobile app, you may purchase your lottery tickets from the comfort of your own home, while Jackpocket manages the payment, transaction and safe storage of your tickets.
Seems to make sense, right? Yes, but it’s hard as shit to build the high-speed, high-reliability technology and compliance systems, not to mention the trusted relationships with payment processors and regulators. The lottery is an institution fraught with regulation and bureaucracy, which stacks the odds against us, but we’re betting on the refreshing Jackpocket user experience as the juggernaut of change for lottery players everywhere.
While modern day lottery systems were introduced in only the last few decades, they have not kept pace with the needs of our mobile-first society. Many of us prefer our Maslovian needs to be met by our phones — from food delivery to instant accommodations to arranging transportation and safe navigation. Banking, fulfillment of social needs and even swiping for our cosmic connection, can all be done from the palm of our hand. Why shouldn’t purchasing lottery tickets be just as easy? Purchasing a physical lottery ticket is antiquated — paper is just so yesterday.
Jackpocket is on a mission to redefine what the lottery means to an entirely new generation of players by making the lottery accessible to mobile natives. Ultimately this helps states generate additional revenue while providing a refreshing lottery experience for all.
Betting on the Future
The lottery continues to grow in popularity. In recent headlines, the Mega Millions paid out north of a billion dollars and the Powerball, a cool $687 million. It’s easy to get excited by the thrill of the potential winnings. Individuals and office pools, across the nation, love to play but the hassle of buying a ticket still leaves a lot to be desired. We’re betting most people want an easier way to get in on the action.
Lotteries date back many centuries and provide an efficient means to raise funding for public service initiatives such as infrastructure projects and education. Playing the lottery is an American past-time. At $80 billion in ticket sales, US consumers spend more on lottery tickets annually than on movie tickets, sporting events, concert tickets, books and video games combined.
It’s no secret that the persona of a traditional lottery player is that of an aging demographic. Lotteries need to appeal to a new generation and Pete Sullivan knows exactly how to make the lottery cool again. Five minutes with Pete will reveal a founder with grit, on a mission that is driven by his first-hand experience growing up in a family of lottery players.
Pete is an exceptional business and product leader. He has an astute aesthetic sensibility combined with an innate understanding of his users and it is reflected in every pixel of the product. Pete and his team have built a strong, high integrity brand that consumers of all ages trust to deliver a fabulous player experience.
Converting Atoms to Bytes
BRV invests in deep technologies that improve operational efficiency and user experience by orders of magnitude. We find that mobile and edge-of-network technologies prove to deliver these much needed solutions, as is the case with Jackpocket.
While the rest of the world is already in the digital age, the process of purchasing a lottery ticket is still vastly an inefficient process. It involves an in-person, physical transaction. Numbers are selected via a paper scantron card. Tickets are printed on paper. There is no central database of players nor is there a sophisticated way to verify player identity. There is plenty of room for improvement.
Jackpocket verifies players via the mobile app and we use this information to deliver safe and secure ticket purchases directly to the player’s mobile device. On the backend, we integrate tightly into the existing lottery infrastructure. The net result — no need to stand in line ever again for a lottery ticket. You can think of us as a highly efficient virtual lottery retailer.
Upping the Ante
The Jackpocket team recently closed their Series B financing with some great Series B investors. The BRV team is proud to continue to back Pete and the entire Jackpocket team.
And for an entertainment detour, here’s Jackpocket’s latest commercial spot:
