Conversation with Sim Harmon, CEO of Kutt, who answers our questions about the Social Betting space.
Market
Everyone is betting on something these days. EVERYONE.
- If you don't bet, you probably have a friend that does. Polls indicate that 60-70% of Americans have bet on something in the last year.
- The American Gaming Society (AGA) says that $150 BILLION is bet on sports each year in America. Political betting has now gone mainstream. And millions of people are wagering on the winners of shows like The Bachelor and Big Brother.
- Most betting still happens directly between two humans...what we call SOCIAL BETTING. Examples of Social Bets include group chat bets on that weekend's NFL games or bets on the gender of the baby at your friend's gender reveal party.
- HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS ($) of these Social Bets are transacted each year.
Problem
Most betting still happens between two humans. Tracking and collecting winnings from bets you make against other people is a nightmare, even with your friends.
Winning a bet against someone else is great. Until you don't get paid...
Even with bets against your friends, tracking the terms/results of the bet, and collecting on payment if you win, is a nightmare that requires several apps and a lot of trust.
The problem is even more pronounced when you try to bet against someone you don't know personally. Good luck collecting on a $100,000 X/Twitter bet you make with someone halfway across the US!
Solution
Kutt is a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) betting platform that allows users to bet directly against each other on anything with a verifiable outcome.
Kutt is an innovative real-money P2P betting platform with the following features:
- Guaranteed Settlement: All bets are pre-funded, ensuring that neither side can flake on payment
- Social Features: User profiles, chats, fan groups, and betting leaderboards create a more fun and engaging app that acts as a social network for bettors
- Community + Network: Kutt builds and connects new and existing communities of bettors with shared interests, and benefits from network effects
83% of bettors want this! In a 2024 survey of 1,000 bettors, we found that:
- More bettors placed a bet against a friend than on a sportsbook in the last year
- 80% of respondents want to bet on non-sports markets
- 60% of respondents text friends about their bet, during a game
Product
Venmo meets "Social Network for Bettors"
Kutt is the ONLY real money P2P betting app in the market to offer betting on both sports and non-sports markets *AND* include social features as a core tenet of our platform.
Send a private bet to your friend(s)...
...or post a bet to the marketplace for someone else to take.
- Bet on sports, politics, pop culture, finance...even personal events! (like a baby's gender reveal)
- Fun and engaging social features: chats, fan groups, user profiles, & leaderboards
- Fully customizable terms and payouts
- Cash back on every single bet!
Kutt is available on the Apple App Store (iPhone) or via play.kutt.com (for Android or Desktop), and can offer real-money gaming in 40 states (visit Kutt.com for a complete list).
Business model
Scalable business model with meaningful revenue already
Kutt has a simple, but scalable, business model: we take a small transaction fee from each accepted bet on our platform. Kutt has low fixed costs, and we have done over $500,000 in revenue in FY2024.
We are adding more revenue streams, including odds generation and B2B sales of our proprietary tech to operators, teams, and leagues who want to build their own P2P betting app (aka "white labeling").
Current Revenue Streams:
- 3% transaction fee from each accepted bet
- Interest on client funds held in escrow
Future Revenue Streams:
- Odds Generation For Non-Sports Markets
- B2B Sales of Kutt’s Tech to operators or teams ("White Label")
- Subscription fees for ancillary services on the app
Traction
Significant Traction, Rapid Growth YTD
All metrics are up 2-3x YTD. Kutt's current KPIs:
- 14,000+ Users (130%+ YTD growth)
- $20M+ YTD Bet Volume (240%+ YTD growth)
- FY2024 Revenue: $500k+
- Revenue/user = 2.9x CAC/user
- $1M+ of YTD deposits on the platform
- We've raised over $1.4mm from VCs and Angel Investors
- We have a legal opinion that allows us to operate real-money betting in ~40 states across the US
- Partnerships with over a dozen companies + influencers with substantial reach in the sports/betting space such as ESPN and SGPN
- College Ambassador Program has been launched, with Kutt on 30+ campuses across the US.
- 10,000+ followers across social media accounts
Patents and Technology
Kutt is a technological innovator in the betting industry, and has pioneered the social betting space.
Unlike most iGaming companies, we own our tech stack since we built Kutt from the ground up. We have a legal opinion that allows us to operate real-money betting in ~40 states.
Kutt also has Patent #11,557,171: System, Method, and Non-Transitory Computer Readable Medium For Peer-To-Peer Wagering that we can enforce if competitors attempt to replicate our model.
In layman’s terms, we've patented:
- A P2P betting platform to support real-money mobile betting between two identifiable counterparties on sports & other events
- Smart-matching technology of identical, opposing bets
- Partial-filling of opposing bets with different value amounts
Competition
The betting industry is massive, and there are competitors with similar products...but no one is doing exactly what Kutt is doing.
Kutt sees competition from several different sources: traditional betting platforms, prediction markets, and P2P payment apps.
However, Kutt is the ONLY real money P2P betting app in the market to offer betting on both sports and non-sports markets *AND* include social features as a core tenet of our platform.
The table below lists the ways we differentiate ourselves from others. There are several companies that are not listed below who are attempting to enter our space, but we believe we have a big enough head start that we can truly dominate the "P2P Social Betting" vertical.
Prediction markets, led by Polymarket and Kalshi - who have each raised upwards of $50mm, despite neither having more than 3,000 MAUs as recently as April 2024 - have exploded onto the scene in recent months.
Kutt's metrics (MAUs, volume, etc.) are on par with, if not better than, Polymarket's and Kalshi's metrics from this time last year, despite the fact that we've raised 1/50th of what they've each raised.
Vision and strategy
Kutt is redefining the way we bet with others. Stop talking and put your money where your mouth is.
Betting is everywhere, but consumers are looking for new and innovative ways to engage with their friends and fellow fans. That includes both regular and casual bettors. Our goal is for Kutt to be the platform of choice anytime someone wants to bet against someone else on something with a verifiable outcome.
Kutt can grow quickly via partnerships with:
1) Brands that have existing communities of engaged bettors
2) College fraternities
3) Bars
4) Celebrities who can challenge their followers directly
Based on current projections, we should reach profitability before the end of 2Q25. Our long-term goal is to continue to grow/remain a standalone entity for as long as possible. With another round of funding, execution of our marketing initiatives, and a few celebrity endorsements, we see a clear path to 1M+ Kutt users in the next 3-5 years. This milestone would make us an attractive M&A target, a candidate for an IPO, or allow us to pay meaningful dividends to our shareholders if we remained private.
Even with lower-than-expected growth, we still have promising exit opportunities as an acquisition target for another betting operator, a media company, or a FinTech platform (like Robinhood, IBKR, or Braintree).
Funding
We've gone from 0-1. Now let's pour fuel on the fire...
Kutt has already raised $1.4mm from over a dozen VCs and Angels. Our previous round was led by Lightning Capital, a VC firm that invests in digital assets and communities. The majority of prior funding went towards building our product (software development, data services, payment processing, etc.), with a minimal amount of money spent on marketing or hiring.
Therefore, funds from this raise will primarily go towards hiring and marketing initiatives that will add 15,000+ new users.
In addition to the financial motive, this Crowdfunding Round:
1) Allows our users to invest directly in the company they love
2) Turns investors into new users of the platform
This Crowdfunding Round should get us to profitability, and will give us more leverage to raise a larger round in 2025 that will allow for the massive expansion we have planned.
Founders
Motivated management team with domain expertise
Kutt runs a lean team. We don't pay ourselves much (and sometimes not at all). You're not going to find us on any Forbes panel or tooting our own horn in the media. We're workaholics. All we care about is creating the best betting platform on the market.
Our CEO, Sim Harmon, and our CTO, James Tice, have a combined 20+ years of experience in the gaming/betting space. Sim spent his entire life savings to start the company and James worked without pay for a year before joining full time.
We have a singular focus on success.
We won't be outworked.
We are good stewards of money.
We are financially ALL IN.
Kutt also has a stellar group of advisors who help with legal, compliance, and operational tasks.
Summary
An investment in Kutt offers an incredible risk/reward ratio.
Why else should you invest?
- Massive TAM; fantastic upside even with low market share
- Strong operating team with domain expertise
- Significant traction + growth, with minimal prior funding
- Macro + regulatory tailwinds
- Ample exit opportunities because of M&A activity in this space