The Pitch Trick That Helped an eSports Startup Raise $20M When VCs Only Wanted AI

Earlier this year, Lucra Sports founder and CEO Dylan Robbins achieved something remarkable. He secured a $20 million Series B funding round led by ARK Invest, a feat made all the more impressive considering the current venture capital landscape. Robbins' company, Lucra Sports, offers white-label interactive gaming competitions as a loyalty program for businesses that serve consumers.

Its clients include Five Iron Golf, Dave & Buster's, and Chess King. What makes Robbins' achievement stand out is that he attracted ARK Invest, despite the fund having previously lost money on a similar eSports company, Skillz. Moreover, Lucra Sports is not an AI startup, a sector that has been dominating venture capital funding.

According to Robbins, there are two key secrets to his success. First, be friendly and open to everyone, as you never know when a casual conversation might lead to a major investor. Robbins met an ARK Invest representative at a New York bar while playing darts, and six months later, the representative introduced him to the investment team at ARK.

This connection resulted in ARK writing a small check in Lucra Sports' Series A round. The second secret involves adjusting his pitch to appeal to AI-focused investors. In late 2025, Robbins found it challenging to secure funding as AI had overtaken venture funding.

He encountered resistance from investors who were only interested in AI startups. To overcome this, Robbins revised his pitch to discuss AI upfront, arguing that if AI succeeds, people will have more free time to engage in gaming activities, benefiting his business. If AI fails, his non-AI approach becomes a smart diversification strategy.

ARK Invest was one of the small cohort of investors who took Robbins' pitch seriously. Once committed, the lead investor introduced Lucra Sports to other VCs, helping to fill out the funding round. Robbins emphasizes that good business fundamentals, including consistent year-over-year growth, were essential in securing the investment.

He also learned that, especially for non-AI businesses, VCs want to hear a big dream. Robbins' vision for a total addressable market of anyone who plays games of any kind, from pickleball to Wordle, helped to secure the funding. The final lesson Robbins learned was to think bigger and aim high when raising venture capital.

He recalls one VC rejecting his proposal, stating that the total addressable market was too small, despite Lucra Sports' impressive growth potential. This experience served as a reminder for Robbins to 'swing for the fences' when seeking venture capital funding.