# Lucra

> Lucra is a B2B competitive-loyalty platform that lets brands run live social competitions - tournaments, head-to-head challenges and mini-games - inside their own apps and websites through a white-label SDK. Originally launched in 2019 as a peer-to-peer real-money sports gaming app, the company pivoted to selling gamified engagement as a modern alternative to points-based loyalty programs, handling compliance, payments and fraud as a merchant of record. Its clients include Dave & Buster's, Five Iron Golf, TouchTunes and ChessKings, and in April 2026 it raised a $20M Series B led by ARK Invest's venture fund - ARK's first time leading an early-stage deal.

- **Founded:** 2019
- **Headquarters:** New York, New York, United States
- **Founders:** Dylan Robbins (Founder & CEO), Michael Madding (Co-Founder & COO / Chief Strategy Officer)
- **Team size:** 40
- **Products:** Lucra SDK, Tournaments, Peer-vs-Peer Competitions, Mini Games, Compliance & Payments Infrastructure
- **Notable:** Raised a $20M Series B in April 2026 - ARK Invest Venture Fund's first-ever lead investment in an early-stage startup., Grew total funding to roughly $41.6M across seed, Series A, a $10M raise and Series B., Signed marquee clients including Dave & Buster's, Five Iron Golf and TouchTunes.

## Products & services

- **Lucra SDK** — White-label, native software development kit that embeds Lucra's gamification and competition engine directly into a brand's existing mobile app or website.
- **Tournaments** — Branded competitive events that can run free-to-play, for real money, or for rewards, letting customers compete for prizes inside a brand's ecosystem.
- **Peer-vs-Peer Competitions** — Head-to-head challenges where users set their own terms and compete directly against friends or other customers.
- **Mini Games** — Lightweight, embeddable games designed to drive repeat engagement within client apps.
- **Compliance & Payments Infrastructure** — Merchant-of-record infrastructure handling KYC/AML, fraud monitoring, payments and state-by-state regulatory coverage for real-money competitions.

## Achievements

- Raised a $20M Series B in April 2026 - ARK Invest Venture Fund's first-ever lead investment in an early-stage startup.
- Grew total funding to roughly $41.6M across seed, Series A, a $10M raise and Series B.
- Signed marquee clients including Dave & Buster's, Five Iron Golf and TouchTunes.
- Kept 94% of wagered money inside client ecosystems, demonstrating engagement without cannibalizing brands.
- Powered Bracketology to 4.8x the industry-average retention rate across a 1M+ userbase.
- Successfully pivoted from a consumer peer-to-peer betting app (live in 37 states) to a scalable B2B SDK business.

## Latest updates

- **2026-05** — TechCrunch details how Robbins reframed Lucra's pitch around AI-driven leisure time to close the Series B in a market fixated on AI startups.
- **2026-04** — Lucra raises a $20M Series B led by ARK Invest Venture Fund - ARK's first early-stage lead investment - to accelerate its B2B gamification push.
- **2024-12** — Lucra raises $10M to drive brand loyalty through gamification, with backers including 7GC, ARK Invest and athletes Giannis Antetokounmpo and Steve Kuhn.

## Links

- Website: https://playlucra.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lucra-sports
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/LucraSports
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/playlucra
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/lucrasports/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/lucra
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-19