# Dylan Robbins

> Dylan Robbins is the founder and CEO of Lucra, a New York-based company that gives brands a white-label software kit for running peer-to-peer, real-money gaming and competitions inside their own apps. A former Goldman Sachs and AQR analyst with a Stanford MBA and a Duke undergraduate degree, Robbins started Lucra in 2019 with co-founder Michael Madding after the two spent years informally tracking sports wagers with friends. He pivoted the company from a consumer app to a B2B2C SDK in 2023, and in 2026 raised a $20M Series B led by ARK Invest - the fund's first lead investment in a non-AI startup.

- **Role:** Founder and CEO at Lucra
- **Organizations:** Lucra (Lucra Sports), AQR Capital Management, Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Undergraduate degree, Duke University, MBA, Stanford University Graduate School of Business
- **Known for:** Founded and leads Lucra, raising a total of roughly $41.6M across Series A and Series B rounds, Closed a $20M Series B led by ARK Invest, reportedly the fund's first lead investment in a startup outside AI, Pivoted Lucra from a consumer app to a white-label B2B2C SDK, signing enterprise clients including Dave & Buster's, Five Iron Golf and Chess King

## Career timeline

- **2014** — Summer analyst at Credit Suisse
- **2015** — Joined Goldman Sachs as an analyst in the Investment Banking Division
- **2017** — Became an analyst at AQR Capital Management
- **2019** — Co-founded Lucra with Michael Madding
- **2021** — Lucra launches; reaches ~50,000 active customers and roughly $15M in handle
- **2022** — Closed a $10M Series A led by Raptor Group, SeventySix Capital and Victress Capital
- **2023** — Pivoted Lucra from direct-to-consumer to a B2B2C SDK model
- **2026** — Raised a $20M Series B led by ARK Invest - the fund's first lead investment in a non-AI startup

## Achievements

- Founded and leads Lucra, raising a total of roughly $41.6M across Series A and Series B rounds
- Closed a $20M Series B led by ARK Invest, reportedly the fund's first lead investment in a startup outside AI
- Pivoted Lucra from a consumer app to a white-label B2B2C SDK, signing enterprise clients including Dave & Buster's, Five Iron Golf and Chess King
- Built a skill-based gaming platform operating in 44 states, covering an estimated 95% of the US population
- Grew early traction to about 50,000 active customers and ~$15M in handle by 2021

## Latest updates

- **2026-05** — Lucra announced a $20M Series B led by ARK Invest, with TechCrunch profiling Robbins' pitch strategy of reframing a non-AI company for an AI-obsessed market.
- **2026-04** — Company's latest funding round dated; total funding reported around $41.6M.

## Links

- Website: https://playlucra.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/dylan-robbins-56338b63
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjZWyOPQJcU
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drobzingis

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/dylan-robbins
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-17