The Betting Startups Podcast

This bonus episode features Andrew Gonzalez, Founder & CEO of ParlayX, joining Jesse Learmonth moments after winning the SBC Summit Americas First Pitch competition in Fort Lauderdale. 
 
Hear them discuss:
Winning the SBC First Pitch competition, and what it means to him
Andrew’s entrepreneurial story, including leaving his market-making career, navigating multiple pivots, and betting on himself as a founder
The challenges institutions face with blockchain, compliance, and fragmented market access, and how ParlayX aims to solve them
Launch plans, institutional partnerships, and the growing opportunity at the intersection of prediction markets and financial infrastructure
 
Catch the video version of this episode here.
 
Learn more 👇
➡️ ParlayX website
➡️ Andrew Gonzalez on Linkedin
 
📩 Get the top headlines from the industry's most promising growth-stage companies every week—totally free! Subscribe to the Betting Startups newsletter here: https://news.bettingstartups.com/

Ep. 214 features Alec Gehlot, Founder of PlaySignal, a responsible gaming platform helping operators intervene earlier, reduce self-exclusions, and create healthier player experiences. 
 
Hear them discuss:
The inspiration behind PlaySignal and why rising self-exclusion rates reveal a growing industry challenge
How PlaySignal’s traffic-light system helps identify at-risk behavior and intervene before players reach a crisis point
Why Alec believes responsible gaming should move from a back-office compliance function to a player-facing experience
The concept of “RG 3.0” and how behavioral science, player psychology, and real-time engagement can reshape responsible gaming
Balancing player protection and retention by helping operators act proactively rather than reactively
The pressures facing regulated operators, including higher taxes, tighter regulations, and competition from offshore markets
Why responsible gaming may become the strongest differentiator for licensed operators in the years ahead
How prediction markets and platforms like Kalshi are approaching self-exclusion and responsible participation
Alec’s decision to bootstrap PlaySignal and his approach to building a lean startup in the gaming industry
The entrepreneurial lessons he’s learned from boxing, resilience, and getting “punched in the face” while building a company
 
Catch the video version of this episode here.
 
Learn more 👇
➡️ Play Signal website
➡️ Alec Gehlot on Linkedin
 
📩 Get the top headlines from the industry's most promising growth-stage companies every week—totally free! Subscribe to the Betting Startups newsletter here: https://news.bettingstartups.com/

Ep. 213 features Gregory Tolmochow, Founder & CEO of Trendline Labs, a startup building what it calls the “Bloomberg Terminal for prediction markets.” 
 
Hear them discuss:
Gregory’s journey from sports betting analytics and The Betting Insider to founding Trendline Labs
Why prediction markets represent a major evolution beyond traditional sports betting
The pivot from an AI-powered sports analytics tool to a unified prediction market terminal
Building a platform that aggregates pricing, liquidity, and data across multiple prediction market exchanges
How Trendline’s Optimus AI model helps users understand market pricing and identify opportunities
The company’s vision to become the trusted information source for prediction markets
Monetization plans through premium subscriptions and transaction-based trading fees
Regulatory considerations, including obtaining an Introducing Broker (IB) license to enter the U.S. market
The ongoing debate around prediction markets, sportsbooks, market makers, and retail traders
Trendline’s roadmap, fundraising plans, and long-term goal of democratizing access to market intelligence
 
Catch the video version of this episode here.
 
Learn more 👇
➡️ Trendline Labs website
➡️ Gregory Tolmochow on Linkedin
 
📩 Get the top headlines from the industry's most promising growth-stage companies every week—totally free! Subscribe to the Betting Startups newsletter here: https://news.bettingstartups.com/

Ep. 212 is the official First Pitch preview episode, where we will meet the 5 startups selected to present at SBC Summit Americas on June 11 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
 
In this episode, you will hear from the five finalists:
Javier Troncoso, InsightPlay.ai
Matt Bresler, Odditt
Matt Paulton, OddsBlaze 
Andrew Gonzalez, ParlayX
Robert McCall, The Sharps
 
SBC First Pitch brings together some of the most exciting startups within the betting and gaming industry to compete for a chance to win an exclusive prize package, valued at over $100,000 to assist in the winner’s development and growth plans.
 
Listen to Business of Betting, the premier podcast covering the business of the sports betting industry featuring host Jeff Edelstein, on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube
 
If you don't have a ticket for the event yet, use discount code BETTINGSTARTUPSVIP for 30% off your pass. Grab your ticket here: https://sbcevents.com/sbc-summit-americas/
 
Catch the video version of this episode here.
 
📩 Get the top headlines from the industry's most promising growth-stage companies every week—totally free! Subscribe to the Betting Startups newsletter here: https://news.bettingstartups.com/

Ep. 211 features Filip Michalsky from Soap Payments, an AI-native orchestration layer designed to simplify the complex payments stack for real-money gaming operators.
Hear them discuss:
Filip’s path from professional squash in the Czech Republic to Harvard AI data science and Fidelity Investments.
The "iceberg" of payments: Navigating the hidden layers of issuing banks, acquiring banks, and convoluted funds movement.
Using AI agents to slash payment onboarding times from months to a single week.
How unified stablecoin rails enable "instant settlement," allowing operators to receive funds in five seconds.
Protecting operators against "bad actors" with specialized defenses that maintain a 0.2% chargeback rate book-wide.
The "vibe coding" vs. review approach: Scaling to 30+ customers with a lean, seven-person team.
Moving beyond gaming: Early traction and expansion into the massive online health vertical.
Strategic funding from Antler, AeroPay, and Astralis Capital ahead of an upcoming larger seed round.
The five-year vision: Becoming a global payment orchestrator alongside category leaders like Stripe.
 
Listen to Business of Betting, the premier podcast covering the business of the sports betting industry featuring host Jeff Edelstein, on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube
 
Catch the video version of this episode here.
 
Learn more 👇
➡️ SOAP Payments website
➡️ Filip Michalsky on Linkedin
 
📩 Get the top headlines from the industry's most promising growth-stage companies every week—totally free! Subscribe to the Betting Startups newsletter here: https://news.bettingstartups.com/

Ep. 210 features Matt Kelley from FastDraft, a fantasy sports platform recently merged with FantasySpin that focuses on high-velocity, mobile-first gameplay.
Hear them discuss:
Matt’s transition from building a million-dollar stats business to launching a platform for the 60M+ fantasy gamer market.
Why the "attention deficit economy" needs 5-minute drafts instead of the traditional hour-long commitment.
The origin story of FastDraft and how it grew out of the underserved dynasty and rookie draft subcultures.
Details on the merger with FantasySpin and combining skill sets to create a "Voltron" marketing and product team.
How they built and licensed a regulated gaming app for $2M by leveraging "OG entrepreneur" experience.
The philosophy of "DFS 3.0" and why prioritizing social play over spreadsheets is the industry's next frontier.
Integrating a unified wallet and cross-app features to optimize for wallet velocity.
Their long-term vision to become the "go-to second screen" for sports fans through a blend of stats and gaming
The dedicated Startup Zone at SBC Summit Americas gives real-money gaming startups a platform to showcase to 10,000+ attendees — including investors, operators, suppliers, media, and key industry players. Spaces are limited, secure yours now through https://www.bettingstartups.com/sbc-americas-2026
 
If you don't have a ticket for the event yet, use discount code BETTINGSTARTUPSVIP for 30% off your pass. Grab your ticket here: https://sbcevents.com/sbc-summit-americas/
 
Catch the video version of this episode here.
 
Learn more 👇
➡️ FastDraft website
➡️ Matt Kelley on Linkedin
 
📩 Get the top headlines from the industry's most promising growth-stage companies every week—totally free! Subscribe to the Betting Startups newsletter here: https://news.bettingstartups.com/

Ep. 209 features David and Kavin from Hydrastack, a startup using AI to transform how casino games are developed, converted, and distributed across channels.
 
Hear them discuss:
The origin story of Hydrastack and how industry pain points around game distribution sparked the idea
Why converting casino games from land-based to online can take 6–8 months and how Hydrastack cuts that down to weeks
How their proprietary AI models ingest and transform existing game code instead of requiring full rewrites
The massive inefficiencies in the current gaming supply chain and how they impact manufacturers, operators, and players
Why “re-authoring” games from scratch is the industry’s biggest bottleneck
How Hydrastack’s platform integrates directly into existing developer workflows (like Unity)
The importance of combining deep industry experience with an outsider perspective to build better solutions
Early traction, including pilot partnerships with major manufacturers and strong inbound interest
Their business model: platform licensing + per-game conversion fees
Insights from participating in programs like Zero Labs, Rice Business Plan Competition, and Booth’s New Venture Challenge
How AI is being adopted across gaming and why most companies still struggle to extract real value from it
Their long-term vision to become the core platform for casino game development and distribution
 
The dedicated Startup Zone at SBC Summit Americas gives real-money gaming startups a platform to showcase to 10,000+ attendees — including investors, operators, suppliers, media, and key industry players.  Spaces are limited, secure yours now through https://www.bettingstartups.com/sbc-americas-2026
 
If you don't have a ticket for the event yet, use discount code BETTINGSTARTUPSVIP for 30% off your pass. Grab your ticket here: https://sbcevents.com/sbc-summit-americas/
 
Catch the video version of this episode here.
 
Learn more 👇
➡️ Hydrastack website
➡️ David Dimas on Linkedin 
➡️ Kavin Kaviarasan on Linkedin 
 
📩 Get the top headlines from the industry's most promising growth-stage companies every week—totally free! Subscribe to the Betting Startups newsletter here: https://news.bettingstartups.com/

Ep. 208 features Nathan Thomas and Brett DeBari, the founding team behind GridGorilla, a digital platform that evolves the classic Super Bowl squares format into a year-round, player-stat-based prediction experience.
 
Hear them discuss:
Brett’s journey through tech sales at Dell and AWS to previous gaming startups, and Nathan’s 20-year engineering career ranging from biomedical startups to database architecture
How the team identified the "mass market" appeal of Super Bowl squares and adapted it into a year-round digital product
Moving beyond final scores to create player-performance grids involving stats like points and rebounds across an x and y axis
Why they opted for a free-to-play, ad-supported model to lower barriers to entry and onboard non-bettors.
Leveraging AI-simulated matchups (e.g., LeBron James vs. the '86 Pistons) to keep users in the app for multiple sessions per day
Nathan’s experience navigating the complex, one-year process of securing a software patent for their predictive grid system
Why the three-person team chose to remain self-funded and the "leap of faith" required to build the company without meeting in person
How Nathan operates as a one-person dev team by leveraging tools like Cursor AI, Flutter, and Golang to write nearly 97% of the app's code
Seeing success with Meta ads under a $2 CAC and partnering with influencers and brand ambassadors to scale to 10,000 users
Future plans for pay-to-play mechanics and a B2B licensing play to offer embeddable grid widgets for other brands and apps
 
The dedicated Startup Zone at SBC Summit Americas gives real-money gaming startups a platform to showcase to 10,000+ attendees — including investors, operators, suppliers, media, and key industry players.  Spaces are limited, secure yours now through https://www.bettingstartups.com/sbc-americas-2026
 
If you don't have a ticket for the event yet, use discount code BETTINGSTARTUPSVIP for 30% off your pass. Grab your ticket here: https://sbcevents.com/sbc-summit-americas/
 
Catch the video version of this episode here.
 
Learn more 👇
➡️ GridGorilla website
➡️ Nathan Thomas on Linkedin 
➡️ Brett Debari on Linkedin 
 
📩 Get the top headlines from the industry's most promising growth-stage companies every week—totally free! Subscribe to the Betting Startups newsletter here: https://news.bettingstartups.com/

Ep. 207 features Yaniv Spielberg, founder of LuckyDraw, a B2B platform bringing prize draws and raffles into the modern gaming ecosystem.
 
Hear them discuss:
Yaniv’s journey from lottery businesses to building and scaling Bragg Gaming Group into a public company listed on the NASDAQ and TSX
The origins of LuckyDraw and identifying the gap in raffle-based gaming despite its global resurgence
How prize draws work, including raffles, instant wins, and scratch cards, and why they offer more flexibility than traditional betting products
Positioning prize draws as a horizontal layer across sportsbooks and casinos for acquisition, retention, and engagement
Early traction, including launching with a first operator via aggregator integrations and initial use cases like reactivation campaigns
The business model behind LuckyDraw and why a SaaS approach was chosen over traditional revenue share
Key startup lessons, including why distribution beats product and the importance of constant customer feedback
The roadmap ahead, focusing on scaling integrations, validating product-market fit, and expanding operator adoption
Long-term vision to become the default prize draw infrastructure layer for gaming operators worldwide
The dedicated Startup Zone at SBC Summit Americas gives real-money gaming startups a platform to showcase to 10,000+ attendees — including investors, operators, suppliers, media, and key industry players.  Spaces are limited, secure yours now through https://www.bettingstartups.com/sbc-americas-2026
 
If you don't have a ticket for the event yet, use discount code BETTINGSTARTUPSVIP for 30% off your pass. Grab your ticket here: https://sbcevents.com/sbc-summit-americas/
 
Catch the video version of this episode here.
 
Learn more 👇
➡️ LuckyDraw website
➡️ Yaniv Spielberg on Linkedin 
 
📩 Get the top headlines from the industry's most promising growth-stage companies every week—totally free! Subscribe to the Betting Startups newsletter here: https://news.bettingstartups.com/

Ep. 206 features Jason White, founder of TallyUp, a free-to-play global game show platform blending casual gaming, wagering mechanics, and the attention economy.
 
Hear them discuss:
The TallyUp concept: a free-to-play, ad-supported PVP gaming platform where players can win real money without risking their own capital
How exponential growth mechanics (inspired by childhood ping pong bets) shaped the core gameplay model
Building simple, “unbeatable” games that balance skill and chance while preventing bots and ensuring fairness
Why TallyUp sits at the intersection of casual gaming, gamified marketing, and betting-adjacent experiences
Solving the “CAC bloodbath” in real-money gaming with a low-cost, global user acquisition strategy
The power of the attention economy and why attention, not money, is the true base currency
Launching real-money wagering in ~100 countries and what this unlocks for monetization and scale
The hybrid model: free global game show + optional real-money skill wagering
B2B opportunities through branded tournaments for companies like Uber or Airbnb
How TallyUp enables large-scale, global competitions with real engagement (vs. traditional giveaways or sweepstakes)
Lessons from failure, rebuilding, and the importance of patience and perseverance as a founder
Fundraising journey: from seed round to preparing for a $10M Series A
 
SBC Americas First Pitch is back in Fort Lauderdale (June 9–11), bringing together some of the most exciting companies in real money gaming for a chance to win an exclusive prize package valued at $100,000.
Applications are now open. Submit your application before April 17th using this link: https://sbcevents.com/sbc-summit-americas/first-pitch/
 
Catch the video version of this episode here.
 
Learn more 👇
➡️ TallyUp website
➡️ Jason White on Linkedin 
 
📩 Get the top headlines from the industry's most promising growth-stage companies every week—totally free! Subscribe to the Betting Startups newsletter here: https://news.bettingstartups.com/