Techcrunch recently reported that the fund setup by Skype founders Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis has invested $3M in social betting company Betable.
Atomico must have more money than sense, in my view. Betable has been around for awhile now and has done absolutely nothing. Visit the Betable website and you can see the tumbleweed in front of your eyes. This sensationalist story "The Twitter for Betting..." is nothing more than a last gasp publiscity stunt from a struggling start-up.
With its 'rock star' team and no customers there is no doubt that they need the money. The only question is how long it will take for them to burn through it. I tried to post a bet on betable.com along these lines but the site is clever enough to know that I'm in the US.
Another thing for the geniuses at Atomico to ponder. Gambling apps are prohibited from using Facebook connect. Betable are very unstable ground with their use of the Facebook platform. Betfair has already found out how Facebook can shutdown apps with no notice and no route for arbitration. Investment down the drain in the flick of a switch.
Social betting, as it has been approached by Betable and many others is based on infrequent bets with low stakes. This is a recipe for disaster.
