The secret to raising $20 million when VC investors are only looking for AI
At the beginning of this year, Dylan Robbins, founder and CEO of Lucra Sports, accomplished what many considered impossible. He managed to attract renowned investor Cathie Wood and her ARK Invest Venture Fund as the lead investor in the startup's funding round. Last month, Lucra announced it had secured $20 million in Series B funding led by ARK, as reported by Techcrunch.com .
Robbins' success lies in his ability to convince the ARK fund despite their previous failed experience in the eSports sector. The fund had previously invested heavily in the Skillz platform and exited at a loss. Most interestingly, Lucra managed to raise such significant capital despite not being directly related to the AI sector that all venture capitalists are currently chasing.
Lucra offers white-label interactive gaming competitions as a unique loyalty program for businesses. Instead of simple coupons, Lucra's clients organize prize-based online tournaments or friendly wagers between customers. Its client list includes brands such as Five Iron Golf, Dave & Buster’s, and Chess King.
Robbins revealed two main secrets to this success. First, one must always and everywhere maintain friendly relationships with people, as a casual conversation can turn into a future major investor. Robbins recalls meeting his investor while playing darts at a bar in New York.
The second secret is to start the pitch with AI capabilities, even if the company is not a pure artificial intelligence product. Robbins emphasizes that in today's market, highlighting this part of the technology is strategically important to capture the attention of investors.
