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Hollywood celebrity Ashton Kutcher has become the latest investor to put his money into eSports online betting pioneer Unikrn.
Last month, Dallas Mavericks owner and “Shark Tank” investor, Mark Cuban, put $7 million in venture capital into the Seattle-based company.
While Unikrn may be headquartered in Seattle, it does not yet take bets from U.S. citizens, where a grey area does exist. Instead it has teamed up with Australian bookmaking powerhouse Tabcorp to take wagers on eSports down under. Unikrn has also begun accepting bets in Ireland and the UK with other nations on the horizon. The company has vowed to find ways to engage with U.S. residents through any legal loopholes it can find.
The exact amount invested by Kutcher was not immediately revealed but Tricia Duryee of GeekWire notes:
Despite Kutcher’s history of playing ditzy roles in “That 70s show,” “Dude, Where’s My Car?” and “Two and a Half Men,” the Iowa-born actor and model is known in tech circles as a savvy angel investor. Past bets include on a number of big consumer brands like Airbnb, Twitter, Foursquare, Uber and Skype.
“He’s highly active in the deals he’s invested in,” said Unikrn CEO Rahul Sood in an interview with Geek Wire. Mr. Sood previously led Microsoft Ventures. “He does a lot of advocating for Twitter and Uber, and he usually gets deep into the companies.”
Other investors in Unikrn include Guy Oseary’s Sound Ventures, Jonathan Teo and Justin Caldbeck of Binary Capital, Advancit Capital, Freelands Group, 500 Startups and Indicator Ventures.
- Aaron Goldstein, Gambling911.com
