Last night was the launch party of Smarkets.com ‘a sports betting website that makes punting on your favourite events simple and social,’ says the site.
Founder Jason gave the crowd at the Hub in Kings X, last night a demo – The user interface looks very clean and simple and is far from my image of betting: overweight, greasy men watching the races whilst toking on cigarettes in high street betting shops like William Hill etc.
Although Willam Hill and others are doing betting online, none of the traditional betting companies are going down the social route of connecting and betting with/against your friends, says Jason.
Prior to founding Smarkets, Jason was an application developer at UBS’s Global Asset Management (New York) where he focused on innovative web technologies. Previously, Jason founded internet startup Descipher, a consumer medical website. Jason had previously been an equities trader at Great Point Capital (Chicago).
Founded in 2008, Smarkets has offices in London and Malta. Smarkets is backed by a group of private investors.
