Online gambling used to be a solitary activity, one person sitting in front of a screen hoping to land on red. But as companies like Stake.com, FanDuel and DraftKings have gained popularity in recent years, investors are betting on the growing social aspect that has become part of many betting platforms.
That includes Monkey Tilt, which combines entertainment with gambling, and on Wednesday announced it has raised $30 million in a Series A funding round led by Pantera Capital.
Monkey Tilt is the brainchild of Las Vegas-native Sam Kiki, who has helped operate some of the largest casinos in the U.S and now hopes to use his expertise to take on the biggest players in online gambling.
“I'm looking at the future as you log in and you're hanging out on the site for a few hours, talking to your friends. You're gambling together. You're having fun the same way you would in Vegas,” Kiki told Fortune.
Kiki views Monkey Tilt as an entertainment company as much as an online casino. He is hoping to develop a recognizable brand by partnering with celebrities and influencers to make content that drives users to his platform.
This is similar to the strategy employed by online crypto casino Stake.com, which partners with influencers who promote the site to their users by gambling on their livestreams. Kiki says that Monkey Tilt is different because it goes a step further, building their brand around these partnerships.
“We're going to partner with all the dopest streamers, the cultural icons, the coolest brands but on top of that, we need to make content with them,” Kiki said.
The platform has also integrated a chat function in which users can communicate with each other while they gamble and donate a portion of their winnings to other users.
“We're very big on the integration of lots of social features. I think the gaming platform of the future looks much more socially immersive than the gaming platforms of the past,” Kiki said.
Monkey Tilt launched in March and has already amassed a monthly betting volume of $200 million. The online casino currently offers sports betting and casino games like black jack, roulette and slots.
Kiki says that poker and a crypto payment infrastructure are coming within the next few weeks.
Kiki will allocate a large portion of the funding raised in this round to paid advertising and marketing. He also plans to use the money to build out a tech team to maintain the platform.
Monkey Tilt is not the only online casino attracting VC interest. In March, another site that also seeks to provide an immersive gambling experience, MyPrize, raised $13 million across two funding rounds, valuing the company at $140 million.
