Peer-to-peer betting platform Betmate has closed down, after it was revealed that not enough numbers had signed up for it to be sustainable.
The announcement which came directly from their marketing team stated that the service will not be returning for the football season the following campaign.
Scaling Issues Were Central To The Decision
One of the biggest requirements for a peer-to-peer app, is having a large user base in order to stand on its own two feet financially and in such a crowded marketplace, this was a hurdle that proved ultimately to be insurmountable.
Although the sports betting and iGaming industry as a whole is worth hundreds of billions in GBP, the fact is that start-ups (companies less than five years old), can struggle, especially if they are unable to show a consistent revenue stream. There are only so many bad months consecutively that can be ridden out.
Despite these problems, there is no doubt that the in-app mechanics caught the attention of some of the industry’s biggest operators.
Having been founded in Liverpool, 2020 by entrepreneurs, Ryan Lawrence and Declan Downing, the company soon gained momentum, with the aim of Betmate being to disrupt the traditional betting landscape.
Not All Bad News For Betmate
Although the company is closing down its peer-to-peer arm, it is instead shifting its focus to B2B (Business-to-Business).
Due to its success in attracting major industry attention, the app’s features have been successfully integrated by numerous operators including William Hill which includes ‘Final One Standing’ and ‘Lucky Stable’.
With such positive feedback, the company will now use partnerships such as this to further grow commercially from a B2B perspective, onboarding new partners, while also, the scope for further product development is also potentially very viable.
In a way, this makes sense if the P2P aspect of the business was not financially viable for the long term.
At its peak, this had encouraging traction and became somewhat of a hit with sports betting enthusiasts looking for something different, compared to a traditional betting format.
The Shutdown Process Of The Betmate App
It has been communicated that customers will have until August 31 of this year to process any withdrawals that they need to make.
Following this date, the app will go completely offline, however, there will be a safety net in place until December 1, 2026.
It means that to claim any remaining funds, customers should email [email protected] to action this with their username and bank details.