RALEIGH – Are you one of those people always game for a friendly wager?

Well, you’re in luck. With GoodBookey’s app – with more than 7000 users and counting — you can place a bet and help a good cause, all at the same time.

Better still, the fledgling Raleigh startup will now have access to more data – and games to place bets on – thanks its recent partnership with Sportradar, one of the world’s leading providers of sports data.

GoodBookey has joined the firm’s latest cohort for its startup accelerator, Acceleradar. As such, it’s now able to enhance its product by accessing Sportradar’s data that monitors and delivers insights from more than 400,000 matches annually across 60 sports categories. The online program also includes one-on-one coaching and mentoring to each cohort startup.

“We’ve been exploring some kind of partnership for quite some time,” GoodBookey’s director Tyler Eshraghi told WRAL TechWire. “After meeting with them at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, we decided together that it would be a great opportunity for GoodBookey to pursue. The access to data, mentorship, and brand value of Sportradar is second to none.”

GoodBookey app. Source: GoodBookey.

GoodBookey team … L-R: Nico Gonzalez (23), Bryan Martin (35), Tony Pease (42), Sarah Deasy (31), Dan Shugan (34), Tyler Eshraghi (30).

Gaming for a cause

It’s just the latest achievement for the fast-rising startup that was founded back in 2015 by a self-described group of tech nerds led by Tony Pease.

The concept was simple: to raise funds for non-profits by allowing users to wager donation amounts on popular national and collegiate sports events.

Shortly after founding, the team competed in the French Viva Tech Conference, which invites more than 75,000 startups, corporations, students and investors globally. GoodBookey took away one of the largest prizes, the Publicis 90, a $100,000 Euros or about $112,000 grant awarded to the most innovative startups.

Since then, it’s gone from strength to strength. To date, it has  partnered with the American Cancer Society, Chive Media Group, Sports1Marketing, The Rose Bowl Foundation, and Drone Racing League.

At its most recent event, it developed a custom game for the Chive Media Group’s annual Spelling Bee, allowing users to bet on who would win the spelling bee, in real time. The Spelling Bee was streamed by 30,000 views over the 2-hour event and raised more than $15,000 for Chive Charities.

To date, it’s the firm’s only outside funding but  that could soon change.

GoodBookey’s parent firm, Carimus Consulting, which creates applications for social good, “has been bootstrapped from the beginning.” But the group is now a finalist for the inaugural Techstars Sports Accelerator.

The company also plans on raising a seed round of funding in late 2019 or early next year.

“Moving forward our goal is to partner with teams and leagues — starting locally with the Hurricanes and Durham Bulls — to create engaging in-stadium games that fans can play at the game, win prizes, and help support great charities,” says Eshraghi.

Sin and salvation: Raleigh’s GoodBookey makes gambling a charitable activity