Gaming Report: HalaPlay & Zupee Raise Funds, Various Groups Call For Ban On Gambling Ads in the UK & More

As companies continue to struggle through the severe financial stress that the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic has caused, two Indian terms have raised funds to stay afloat during these challenging times and to further consolidate.

Bengaluru-based fantasy sports portal HalaPlay has raised ₹2.94 Crores from its two existing investors, Gaussian Networks (the parent company of online poker site Adda52) and Nazara Technologies. HalaPlay will be using the funding to stabilize its functioning in the wake of losses after all major sporting events, including the Indian Premier League (IPL), were called off.

At the same time, real money quiz portal Zupee has raised ₹60.38 Crores in a Series A funding round led by Matrix Partners India. Zupee’s existing investor Smile Group, Falcon Edge Capital, WestCap Group, and Orios Venture Partners, also participated in the round.

The gambling sector seems to be in the eye of a storm in the UK. A group of leading doctors have expressed their concern over gambling during the COVID-19 crisis and demanded that the government should ban gambling adverts at this time. Independently, a parliamentary group has also written to the UK government, calling for stringent restrictions on gambling and banning ads.

The poker community continues to rally behind COVID-19 relief measures. Phil Galfond’s Run It Once (RIO) Poker has come out with a special 32-player heads-up tournament. The tournament has no buy-in and all the money raised through the tourney will be donated to the GiveDirectly COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund in support of low-income families in Las Vegas.

In the meantime, Spain has banned gambling ads and lotteries as part of several emergency measures in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis.

HalaPlay Raises ₹2.94 Crores in Funding From Nazara Technologies & Gaussian Networks

The COVID-19 pandemic and the immediate economic fallout has forced the Bengaluru-based fantasy sports platform HalaPlay to raise ₹2.94 Crores in funding from its existing investors Gaussian Networks (a subsidiary of Delta Corp) and Nazara Technologies.

The company will be using the funding to stay afloat at a time when its fund availability has been affected by the cancelation of all major sporting events both in India and abroad, including the much-awaited Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 Season.

HalaPlay was founded by Swapnil Saurav, Prateek Anand, Ananya Singhal and Aman Kesari in 2017.

Gaussian Networks is the parent company of Adda52 and a subsidiary of Delta Corp, and according to official filings, HalaPlay has raised ₹1.19 Crores from Gaussian that has received 2,669 shares of the company in exchange. At the same time, Nazara Technologies has invested ₹1.74 Crores and has been issued 3,892 shares. Both the transactions have taken place at a price of ₹4,395 per share.

Incidentally, this is not the first time that Delta Corp has invested in HalaPlay. Last year in March, Delta had invested ₹15.50 Crores in the portal.

The latest filings also indicate that HalaPlay had raised ₹50 Lakhs from Delta Corp in December 2019 for which Delta had been issued 1,032 shares.

Zupee Raises ₹60.38 Crores in Series A Funding Round Led by Matrix Partners India

Real money quiz and trivia portal Zupee has recently raised ₹60.38 Crores in a Series A funding round led by Matrix Partners India. In addition to Matrix Partners India, Zupee’s existing investor Smile Group as well as Falcon Edge Capital, WestCap Group, and Orios Venture Partners also participated in the funding round.

The startup was founded by ex-IITians Siddhanth Saurabh and Dilsher Singh Malhi in 2018 and is owned by Indipepper Media Private Limited. In April 2019, the company received ₹7 Crores in funding from the Smile Group, which is an internet investment and advisory company.

Dilsher Singh Malhi, CEO of Zupee, said that the company intends to use the funds to invest in technology, marketing, and team-building.

“We at Zupee are geared to serve 100 million users and be a leader in skill-based gaming in India. We will be using the capital raised from this round to invest deeper in technology, team, and marketing,” he said.

Talking about the recent funding, Managing Director of Matrix India, Tarun Davda, said, “Zupee has built a truly unique mobile-gaming product that allows players to showcase their knowledge, while at the same time tap into their intrinsic need to compete with their friends and other gamers.”

In a joint statement, the founders of Smile Group, Harish Bahl, and Manish Vij, said, “Zupee has emerged as one of the leading players in skill-based gaming, and we remain excited to extend our platform’s support in this next phase of Zupee’s growth.”

Zupee runs live quiz tournaments on its app, allowing users to compete with friends and other players for prizes. The app has more than 2,000 live quiz tournaments running daily, covering a range of 100 topics from movies to sports, mathematics, etc.

In just over two years, Zupee has managed to expand to a registered user base of 5 Million, with its monthly gameplays clocking over 10 million.

UK Doctors & MPs Call for Gambling Ad Ban During COVID-19 Lockdown

A group of leading medical practitioners and parliamentarians in the U.K. have expressed concern over the rise in gambling activity during the Coronavirus lockdown.

Both groups have demanded a ban on gambling ads. Opposing the proposed ban, the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has said that the levels of gambling have declined during the pandemic, and there’s no cause for worry.

UK Doctors Call For Suspending Gambling Adverts

A group of doctors in the U.K. has urged for a ban on gambling advertising, saying that the Coronavirus pandemic has already dealt a big blow to the people’s finances.

According to the doctors, which include chairman of the British Medical Association, Dr. Chaand Nagpaul and president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists Prof. Wendy Burn, the gambling industry needs to “realign its moral compass” at this critical juncture and help protect people from financial losses.

The group has written to The Times, stating, “Too much spare time and a lack of distractions during the lockdown have placed many more people at risk of gambling beyond their means.”

MP’s Demands For Gambling Restrictions

A big group of parliamentarians under the umbrella of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Gambling Related Harm have demanded stringent checks on gambling, including a ban on advertising during the ongoing lockdown. The group is chaired by Carolyn Harris.

In a letter to the Minister overseeing the gambling sector, Nigel Huddleston, and the BGC, 22 MPs and two Lords said the measures undertaken by the BGC to check that firms do not exploit vulnerable people were weak and grossly insufficient.

The MPs wrote, “People are at home and are severely restricted, with access to mini-casinos on their laptops or mobile phones. We, therefore, have deep concerns about the ‘pledges’ which have been proposed this week by the BGC.”

Among other demands, the group has also recommended that stakes on “highly dangerous” slot games be limited to £2, while the industry should limit betting account deposits.

Gaming Industry Reacts

Responding to the call for a ban on gambling advertising, the Betting, and Gaming Council (BGC) has said, “There is not a shred of evidence to support these alarmist calls. The inconvenient truth is levels of gambling have plummeted during Covid.”

Meanwhile, William Hill, in its official response, said, “We recognise that these are unprecedented times and we are continuing to offer a robust set of safer gambling services and tools during this period aimed at protecting our existing and new customers.”

An 888 representative also stated. “888 recognises that, in the current environment, our vigilance to prevent gambling-related harm is even more important than ever before. We are mindful of the uncertainty that may be impacting people currently and have not increased marketing activity during this period.”

Run It Once Poker Announces Charity Event For COVID-19 Relief

On April 7, Phil Galfond’s Run It Once (RIO) Poker announced a special 32-player heads-up tournament to be hosted on the client’s testing environment on April 11. The sole objective of the tournament is to raise funds for COVID-19 relief and to ensure raising as much money as possible, this tournament has no buy-in.

All the money raised through the event will be donated to the GiveDirectly COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund that supports low-income families in Las Vegas.

This Saturday, I’ll be taking a break from the #GalfondChallenge to play a little 2-card for a good cause.

Thanks @DanSmithHolla for helping the @RunItOncePoker team put this together, and thanks to all the pros participating. Let’s have some fun!https://t.co/uedBE1s8SV

— Phil Galfond (@PhilGalfond) April 7, 2020

The tournament will see 16 popular pros in attendance with superstars like Dan Smith, Kevin Martin, Sam Greenwood, Luc Greenwood, Daniel Dvoress, Parker Talbot, John Cynn, Jamie Kerstetter, Andreas Froehli, David Tuchman, Richard Gayler and Marle Cordeiro joining Galfond in the tournament.

The other 16 players will be selected based on donations. The top eight contributors (till April 9) will be assured a seat in the tourney while the other eight spots will be randomly awarded from the list of players who made a donation of as little as $1 (till April 9).

The single-elimination event will feature every match with a 30-minute time limit and in case the match does not conclude, the player in the chip lead at the time will progress to the next round.

The eventual champion of the event will win access to RIO Training’s A-Game Poker Masterclass along with a three-month subscription to both RIO’s Elite plan and RIO’s Vision GTO Trainer.

Players from the US, Italy, Spain, and other restricted countries will also be able to take part in the event and RIO Poker’s Twitch channel will broadcast the action with commentary by Joe Stapleton, David Tuchman, and Henry Kilbane.

The site has announced that it will be contributing €10 each to the relief fund on behalf of any player who plays even a single hand on the site on April 11.

Spain Comes Out With a New Law Banning Poker Adverts

In just four months, the Coronavirus pandemic has infected over 1.4 million people around the world, with more than 88,000 confirmed dead. One of the worst-hit countries by the COVID-19 pandemic, Spain, is grappling to preserve social and economic order. As part of the emergency measures, Spain’s government has suspended sales of both offline and online lottery, while announcing a ban on gambling advertising.

On April 3, the government passed a new law that restricts gaming operators to advertise only between 1 am to 5 am each day.

Additionally, all digital communications, including emailing and advertising on social media, have been banned. Operators have also been restrained from running acquisition or retention campaigns like financial rewards, bonuses, free bets, and discounts.

The ‘consumer protection measures’ termed as ‘de facto gambling advertising ban’ by operators in the country will affect several operators, including the Stars Group.

To monitor the compliance of the new laws introduced by the Spain government, Rightlander, an affiliate compliance company has announced the launch of ‘Fast Start Spain,’ which will help operators to identify which affiliates are exploiting the current crisis. The report identifies ‘life-changing’ keywords used by sites in affiliate marketing content.

Elaborating on the same, the founder of Rightlander.com, Ian Sims said: “Judging from the influx of requests we’ve received, this announcement made a sudden and big impact. Rightlander is ideally positioned to make these sorts of snap decisions as we already have a substantial database of Spanish language affiliate sites that we scan regularly, although, until now that has mainly been for affiliate links to non-ES domains, as per the local regulator’s guidelines.”