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Read the 4-slide pitch deck a founder who pivoted his startup to sports betting made to raise $3.6 million
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- A four-slide pitch deck helped startup Compliable raise $3.6 million in October.
- The compliance company pivoted into sports betting amid the pandemic.
- It has since attracted investment from Bettor Capital, KB Partners, and others.
Compliable CEO Chris Oltyan told Insider that he wasn’t planning to raise new funding for his startup when an investor he had been speaking with for more than a year asked to see a pitch deck.
Oltyan threw together a quick-and-dirty four-slide deck in August, which he hoped would get investors excited about the startup that supplies technology to simplify the sports-gambling licensing process.
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The deck helped Compliable get the initial term sheet that led to its $3.6 million seed round, which closed in October and was led by David VanEgmond’s Bettor Capital. (Bettor Capital advisor Carl Sottosanti, former general counsel for Penn National, is joining Compliable’s board following the raise.)
Previously called Rebric, Compliable pivoted into sports betting in 2020.
The startup was originally in sanctions-list compliance with a tool to help companies keep tabs on vendors and suppliers that the US government bars companies from doing business with. But, when the pandemic hit, its core focus was no longer a priority for many corporate decision makers.
Oltyan and his team started looking at other industries that it could build solutions for. They heard from major sportsbooks that licensing was a big challenge for the industry. Large organizations were managing the state-by-state regulatory process through a system of Excel spreadsheets and lawyers.
In September 2020, Compliable built a prototype that helped companies manage their licensing across multiple jurisdictions. It focused on the lowest-level licenses, such as those for customer service representatives who need to be approved by regulators. The software was up and running by November, Oltyan said.
The startup later signed on clients including FanDuel and sports-betting exchange startup Sporttrade. It also raised a $1.7 million round of funding in May 2021 that was led by the sports and technology-focused KB Partners.
Compliable has raised about $6.4 million to date, including three seed rounds, as well as funding from seed accelerator Techstars and family and friends, Oltyan said.
Oltyan said that the August pitch deck gave investors a reason to get excited about Compliable. But he credits the time he spent building relationships with investors with securing the raise.
“If you’re a CEO, you are never not fundraising,” Oltyan said. “It has to start early on.”
Oltyan said he began the conversations by asking investors for advice, not money. He kept them updated on Compliable’s progress along the way, which showed that the startup was executing on its vision.
Oltyan said he pitched 451 investors during the company’s first seed round, 42 investors during the second round, and just six investors during the latest recent round. By that point, he knew the right people to approach, and they were familiar with the startup’s story.
“The first checks in were people I had started the conversation with over a year ago, and it took one year before that group was comfortable enough with me as an entrepreneur to give me a term sheet,” he said.
Here’s Compliable’s August pitch deck:
The brief deck starts with a bullet list of reasons investors should be excited about Compliable.
Compliable.
Compliable said the announcement of its $1.7 million seed round in May caught the attention of potential clients and investors, who wanted to learn more about its software.
The startup also highlighted the overall growth of the US sport-betting industry. It said six or more states were due to turn on legal sports-gambling in the next 12 months.
It lists active clients including FanDuel and potential clients.
Compliable.
Compliable also detailed its progress selling its tool to sports-gambling companies.
It listed two paying clients: FanDuel and Sporttrade.
It also named companies that it was negotiating contracts with, and a few companies that were piloting its technology.
Note: Compliable removed confidential company names and sales amounts in the version of the deck that was shared with Insider.
Fresh funding would help the startup grow is workforce and pursue patents.
Compliable.
The startup detailed what it hoped to do with any additional funds raised, including making new hires and expanding to support other kinds of licenses like vendor and affiliate licenses.
It also said the money could help the company pursue patents and prepare for future state launches.
Compliable also wanted to use part of the funds to hire a key advisor full time.
Compliable.
In classic pitch deck form, Compliable ended with an overview of its executives.
They included Oltyan, the CEO; Ben Neil, chief technology officer; Rich Grote, chief revenue officer; and Justin Stempeck, a former DraftKings executive who had been advising Compliable and the company planned to hire as its chief compliance officer.