# Jeremy Levine

> Jeremy Levine is the co-founder and CEO of Underdog and previously co-founded and led DRAFT and StarStreet. His career spans a sports stock-market experiment, daily fantasy contests, mobile snake drafts, and prediction markets. DRAFT was acquired by Paddy Power Betfair in 2017; in July 2026, IG Group announced a proposed acquisition of Underdog.

- **Role:** Co-founder and CEO at Underdog
- **Organizations:** Underdog, DRAFT, StarStreet
- **Education:** Syracuse University
- **Known for:** Co-founded DRAFT, whose 2017 acquisition included $19 million upfront and up to $29 million in contingent payments., Built Underdog with former DRAFT colleagues after the earlier service closed., Led Underdog through a Series C first close at approximately $1.23 billion valuation in March 2025.

## Career timeline

- **2009** — Graduated from Syracuse University and began developing StarStreet while living in his parents’ attic in Cambridge.
- **2010** — Entered Techstars after initial accelerator rejections.
- **2014** — Sold StarStreet daily fantasy assets to DraftKings; co-founded DRAFT with Nicolo Giorgi and launched its iOS app in December.
- **2015** — DRAFT announced a $3.5 million Series A led by Upfront Ventures.
- **2017** — Paddy Power Betfair acquired DRAFT for $19 million upfront and up to $29 million in performance-linked consideration; Levine and Jordan Fliegel continued as co-CEOs.
- **2019** — DRAFT’s standalone service closed at the end of the NFL season.
- **2020** — Founded Underdog with a seven-person founding team drawn from DRAFT.
- **2021** — Underdog announced a $10 million financing round led by Kevin Carter.
- **2024** — Goldman Sachs honored Levine at its Builders and Innovators Summit for a second consecutive year.
- **2025** — Spark Capital led a $70 million Series C first close at approximately $1.23 billion valuation; Underdog introduced prediction markets in September.
- **2026** — Underdog acquired exchange and clearinghouse businesses in March and launched its own exchange in July. IG Group announced a proposed acquisition on July 30.

## Achievements

- Co-founded DRAFT, whose 2017 acquisition included $19 million upfront and up to $29 million in contingent payments.
- Built Underdog with former DRAFT colleagues after the earlier service closed.
- Led Underdog through a Series C first close at approximately $1.23 billion valuation in March 2025.
- Recognized at Goldman Sachs’ Builders and Innovators Summit in 2023 and 2024.

## Latest updates

- **2026-10** — Presented Underdog’s product, operations, and prediction-market strategy at an IG Group investor seminar on October 8. The acquisition remained proposed in IG’s October 22 strategy coverage.
- **2026-09** — Announced that Underdog would stop accepting new draft entries in seven states after choosing to surrender fantasy licenses there while offering its federally regulated products.
- **2026-07** — IG Group announced an agreement to acquire Underdog for approximately $1.1 billion upfront plus up to $200 million in contingent consideration; closing expected late 2026 or early 2027 subject to approvals.
- **2026-07** — Underdog launched its own prediction-market exchange.
- **2026-03** — Underdog announced its acquisition of Aristotle Exchange DCM and DCO businesses.

## Links

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jerlevine
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/JerLevine

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/jeremy-levine
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-25