Lucra Sports

𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗲 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝟮 💡: Next up is our Chief Technology Officer, Michael Schmidt! 🏆 What’s a project or accomplishment you’re most proud of at Lucra? 𝗣𝗶𝘃𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗮 𝗗𝟮𝗖 𝗮𝗽𝗽 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗻 𝗦𝗗𝗞 𝗶𝗻 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘀—𝗻𝗼 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝗽𝘂𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝗳𝗳. 𝗔 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗲, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝗼𝗳𝗳 𝗯𝗶𝗴 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲. 📖 What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned while working at Lucra? 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹. 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁—𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗷𝘂𝗺𝗽 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝘀. 🏀 If you could have dinner with any sports legend, who would it be? 𝗦𝗶𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗕𝗶𝗹𝗲𝘀—𝘀𝗵𝗲’𝘀 𝗺𝘆 𝗱𝗮𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗲𝗿’𝘀 𝗶𝗱𝗼𝗹, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜’𝗱 𝟭𝟬𝟬% 𝘀𝗻𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿. 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘁𝘆 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗲’𝗱 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘄𝗶𝘀𝗲. 𝗣𝗹𝘂𝘀, 𝗮𝘁 𝟱'𝟴", 𝗜’𝗱 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲. 🔥 If Lucra had an office Olympics, what event would you 100% win? 𝗙𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗚𝗜𝗙 (𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗝𝗜𝗙 😉)/𝗠𝗲𝗺𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲—𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝘁𝘆𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗜’𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗱𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗲. Follow along each week as we highlight all the exceptional minds at Lucra! ⚡

Lucra Sports started as a B2C platform, bringing fans closer to the games they love through peer-to-peer competition. But in 2024, we asked ourselves: "Why not power the platforms that customers already use? 💡 The Opportunity: Rather than building a standalone destination, we saw a bigger play—embedding Lucra’s social gamification tools directly into partner platforms. Now, some of the best brands in sports, media, and beyond use Lucra to: 🎯 Deepen fan engagement 📱 Enhance customer interaction 💰 Unlock new revenue streams 📍 Where Lucra Fits: Anywhere competition exists. Seamlessly. 🚀 The Bigger Picture: This evolution allows us to revolutionize fan engagement at scale, working with partners who share our vision for interactive, community-driven gamification experiences. 💭 What’s Next? What brands or concepts should we partner with?

𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗲 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁: At Lucra, our people and culture are our greatest assets. We believe that behind every innovation, every partnership, and every milestone, there’s a team of incredible individuals driving our success. That’s why we’re pulling back the curtain to introduce you to the people who make Lucra what it is. We're kicking things off with none other than our Principal Software Engineer, Brad Stell. 🏆 What’s a project or accomplishment you’re most proud of at Lucra? 𝗜'𝗱 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗻𝘁 (𝗨𝘀!) 𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗺𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶-𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗻𝘁 (𝗨𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀) 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗲𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗹𝘆, 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗕𝟮𝗕𝟮𝗖 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘀. 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗺𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁, 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗽𝗶𝘃𝗼𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘀. 📖 What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned while working at Lucra? 𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝗮 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁. 𝗡𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗯𝗶𝗴 𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀. 🏀 If you could have dinner with any sports legend, who would it be? 𝗚𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲. 𝗜'𝗱 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗶𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗹𝗲𝘅 𝗛𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗱. 𝗛𝗲'𝘀 𝗮 𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗱. 🔥 If Lucra had an office Olympics, what event would you 100% win? 𝗘𝗮𝘀𝘆. 𝗥𝗼𝗰𝗸 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗴 🧗. Stay tuned as we spotlight all the talented minds shaping our company, sharing their journeys, passions, and what makes Lucra a special place to work! 🚀

Thanks for including us in this sports technology landscape piece, Steve McCaskill 📈 We strive to be at the forefront of gamification for sports, media, and entertainment brands to encourage more play and more social competition 🏆! Hit our line if you're interested in learning more about what we do and who we serve 📳. Check out the full article here ➡️ https://lnkd.in/edsWaxjC

$1.5 billion. That’s how much was projected to have been legally wagered on Super Bowl 59 according to Legal Sports Report —a new record, with FanDuel alone reporting a 19% YoY increase in bets placed. 📈 🏆 The Super Bowl is sports betting’s biggest day of the year, and was a pretty nice day for me personally (thanks to that garbage Deandre Hopkins TD 😅 ) but I'm even more bullish on the potential for gamifying other experiences far beyond marquee events like the #SuperBowl. At Lucra Sports, we’re doubling down on something even bigger: social gamification, anywhere, anytime, with anyone. We estimate that globally over $100 billion worth of challenges between friends happens "offline" every year, and Lucra's innovative technology platform helps brands to digitize this friendly competition that is already happening within their ecosystem. 🎯 Through our current partnerships, 50M+ Americans in 2025 will have access to Lucra’s gamification technology, making it possible to compete on anything, for something. Electronic darts, mini golf, arcade games…for cash, brand credit, burgers, beers... The possibilities are endless. This means that the thrill of competition isn't confined to tentpole events; it can be a part of daily life, fostering connection and motivation among friends and communities. This whitespace in social gamification is massive, and we’re just getting started. 🚀 💪🏻

Spent last week in Europe with Michael Madding (and our better halves joined us for a fun weekend) — taking meetings, making expansion plans, and reflecting on how far we’ve come. The founder journey moves fast, and it’s easy to get caught up in the now and what’s next. But sometimes, it’s just as important to look back at where it all started. Michael Madding and I go back 15 years—first as friends, later as colleagues at Goldman Sachs, and now as partners at Lucra Sports. No matter the stage of our lives, we were always engaging in some friendly competition—a few bucks here, some bragging rights there. We kept a running tab—golf, pickup games, March Madness pools—one of us always owed the other something. And, of course, one of us was always pushing to settle up. That endless back and forth was more than just friendly competition; it was the spark that led to Lucra’s first B2C iteration—a simple way to bring that same casual, social competition to a bigger audience. Since then, Lucra has evolved and scaled in ways that have us more fired up than ever. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from this journey, it’s that your pain points aren’t always unique—if you’re experiencing a challenge, others probably are too. Not every idea should become a business, but some are worth building. And sometimes, the best ones start with a running tab between friends. Would love to hear from fellow founders—what’s the most unexpected way an idea sparked for you?

Major #SportsTech startup announcements in the last day or so: 🚀 National Basketball Association (NBA) Launchpad announced their 2025 cohort. Props to Tom Ryan and the team for always curating an great lineup, and of course the companies themselves: OneCourt, SIQ Basketball, Somnee, Trashie & Virtual Repetitions (VReps) 🚀 SportsPro who announced their 𝟮𝟬 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘀𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗡𝗼𝘄 – 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 Congrats to all the selected companies: 15 Seconds of Fame, Inc., ASB GlassFloor, Camb.ai, DIBZ, Fanbase (Techstars Sports ‘24), Fastbreak AI, Grandstand, GROWL, Hapana, Hexis, Lucra Sports, MAGIC AI, Misapplied Sciences, Inc., Plantiga, Soccerverse, StatusPRO, Tonsser, TRICKSHOT, Uplift Labs, ZATAP by collectID Great to see plenty of familiar names on this list (several of which we've featured on our podcast). I've said this a few times already, 2025 is off to a flying start for SportsTech. Strong momentum building, big things ahead 👀

🚀 Welcome to the Team! 🚀 Lucra welcomed three incredible new hires to the squad in January! As we grow, we’re bringing on passionate, talented individuals who believe in our mission and are ready to push the boundaries of gamification and innovation. ⚡ Khazia Hislop (Implementation Manager) – “I decided to join Lucra because of the excitement and high energy of not only the employees I met, but the gamification space in general. It's clear that in today's world, there's SO much fire and opportunity in this market, and it's something I wanted to venture into and be a part of!” ⚡ Yashar Atajan (Senior Android Engineer) – “I decided to join Lucra for the opportunity to build an amazing product with a passionate team. I am excited to take on more responsibilities and expand my role to help drive the innovation in this fast-paced space.” ⚡ Nick Johnson (Founding Account Executive) – “Over the years, I've had the pleasure of becoming friends with Dylan, and I've always been impressed by both the product and vision that Lucra has had. When the opportunity came to help build out that vision, I couldn't pass it up.” We couldn’t be more excited to have them on board as we revolutionize the way people engage with competition and social gaming. Let’s get to work! 💪 #Lucra #WelcomeToTheTeam #Gamification #Innovation #NewHires

20 sports tech ideas to invest in now 🚀   Now in its sixth year, SportsPro’s annual list recognises the sports technology companies driving the transformation of the industry. These trailblazing startups are setting the pace for the future of sports - here are the 20 you should be paying attention to in 2025! 👇   #SportsBiz #SportsTech #IdeastoInvestIn #Investment | ASB GlassFloor |Fanthropic, a 15SOF Company | Hexis | Hapana | DIBZ | GROWL | Grandstand | Fastbreak AI | Fanbase (Techstars Sports ‘24) | Camb.ai | Lucra Sports | MAGIC AI | Misapplied Sciences, Inc. | Plantiga | Soccerverse | StatusPRO | Tonsser | TRICKSHOT | Uplift Labs | ZATAP by collectID