FanDuel to announce completion of new round of financing

The new investment was led by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, an existing investor, and included the new investors Google Capital and Time Warner. Several previous backers also participated, including Shamrock Holdings, the investment arm of Roy E. Disney’s family; NBC Sports Ventures; and Comcast Ventures.

The new capital will be deployed to further build the customer base through marketing and new features, and expand the company’s global presence in a booming market.

Both FanDuel and rival DraftKings take advantage of carve-outs in the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act of 2006.

FanDuel is expected to award about $2 billion in prizes this year, up from $560 million last year, according to its chief executive, Nigel Eccles.

Eccles says the number of Fanduel active users over the first half of 2015 has grown 300 percent from the same time a year ago, when it was around 1.1 million users.

Ted Oberwager, a senior exec at the Wall Street alternative investment firm KKR which helped FanDuel raise the extra capital said: “We think it’s one of the most valuable kinds of media today. Fantasy sports offer some of the highest levels of engagement that we’ve seen.”