YC-backed Better Opinions raises over $1M in funding led by Java and Soma Capital

Gurugram-based Better Opinions, a skill-based gaming startup that allows users to trade their opinion on an outcome of a real-life event, has raised $1 million in a pre-Seed funding round led by Y Combinator, Java Capital, and Soma Capital.

The round also witnessed participation from a few angel investors, including Mayank Kumar (Co-founder of UpGrad), Sudhanshu Raheja (Head of Product and Engineering, GoTo Financials, Gojek-Tokopedia), Pratyush Prasanna (SVP, Gojek), Chinmaya Sharma (Chief Commercial Officer Namshi), and the Ranadive Family, the co-owners of Sacramento Kings.

Soumyajit Das and Samay Jain co-founded the startup in 2021. Better Opinions allows users to trade their opinions on events in various categories such as cricket, football, finance, and entertainment and enables users to trade on events while matching them with a person with a complimentary trade.

With events trading emerging as a whole new asset class across the globe, Better Opinions is targeting Rs 1 crore monthly GMV in Q2 and 1 million users in Q4, the statement said.

According to the company's statement, the raised funds will enable the startup to build and expand the product and tech team. Apart from this, It will also focus on growing the existing user base and educating them about events trading.

Samay Jain, Co-founder & CEO of Better Opinions, said the application also targets individuals who may not be financially literate. “Our aim is to make the app inclusive for all. The stock market unfortunately can be very technical and opaque and therefore isn’t always accessible for all. However, when we start allowing trading in categories such as cricket, politics, and entertainment, not only do we make trading more relatable, but we also help improve their financial literacy. In the process, they also start experiencing the excitement of trading," he said.

The startup said its real money gaming app ("RMG App") saw 150,000 signups within the first months of its launch and is currently witnessing 30% week-on-week (WoW) growth.

The Prediction markets sit at the intersection of three of the strongest trends that are being observed today: a propensity to speculate, real money gaming, and social. The prediction market allows you to trade on everyday topics. RMG business is growing at a CAGR of 23% YOY, the company said.

Speaking on the investment, Vinod Shankar, Co-founder & Partner, Java Capital, said: “We at Java Capital are very excited to invest in Better Opinions and back Samay and Soumyajit, who have shown maturity and purpose in building Better Opinions, and scaling it at a fast pace. As a VC, I make decisions on companies to invest/trade, a reflection of our opinion, knowledge, and information at a point in time."

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