The “fastest-growing sports gaming company ever”, founded in 2020 by Jeremy Levine, Underdog, has made some bold moves in an attempt to strengthen its leadership bench while doubling down on growth in the sports prediction space.
The startup revealed this week that it has hired Rishi Garg as its new chief financial officer and Kimberly Pointer Corbett as chief marketing officer.
Important Timing
The timing is particularly important, as the appointments come just weeks after the company rolled out event contracts for sports wagering together with Crypto.com’s U.S. derivatives branch, turning Underdog into the first major operator to integrate this type of product directly into its app.
Levine, who is also chief executive officer, explained that the decision to hire Garg and Pointer Corbett was part of the company’s broader plan to recruit proven leaders while scaling.
“Our formula to win is simple: invest in people and product, and we bring in leaders who know what it takes to build the type of company we want to be,” Levine said in an interview for Reuters.
“Throughout their careers, Rishi and Kimberly have done it, demonstrating the ability to build some of the most globally successful consumer brands. We have ambitious goals and we’re building the team to take us there.”, he added.
Garg, “Excited to Be a Part Of It”
Garg brings decades of experience to the role as Twitter’s former vice president of corporate development and strategy, Mayfield Fund’s venture partner, and Square’s lead of corporate development and strategic partnerships.
He also co-founded FanSnap, a search company with a focus on live event tickets, which was later acquired by Nextag. At Underdog, Garg, who is also a practitioner of the improvisational arts and a member of SF Jazz’s board of trustees, will replace Dustin Cooper, a founding team member who will be making the shift to chief business officer.
Garg took the opportunity to acknowledge Underdog’s fast growth in the last five years, calling the momentum “a pivotal opportunity to be a great consumer company and build the essential daily companion to the American sports fan”.
Pointer Corbett: “Keep an Eye Out, We’re Doing Big Things”
Pointer Corbett will be stepping into the CMO position with over a decade of gaming industry expertise up her sleeve. Warner Bros Games’ former senior vice president of digital publishing, who also worked at Zynga, Kabam, and Fortis Games, will be succeeding Liz Marro, another company co-founder who has moved into an advisory position.
Pointer Corbett described her new role with clear enthusiasm, explaining they will “serve sports fans in the most compelling way” and “scale Underdog to be the ultimate sports brand.”
“Keep an eye out, we’re doing big things,” she said in a LinkedIn post, while adding they aim to “make sports more fun.”Underdog’s event contracts are currently live in 16 U.S. states, including a handful that are yet to officially legalize sports betting.
The company is projecting close to $500 million in revenue for its fifth year of operations, after closing a $70 million Series C round led by Spark Capital in March, which lifted its valuation past the $1.3 billion mark.