Numerous sports leagues and companies leveraging sports have turned to the blockchain and launched non-fungible tokens.

Among the companies is Third Time Entertainment, which launched Photo Finish LIVE, a virtual horse racing game, earlier this year.

New Funding Round: Third Time Entertainment announced it has closed a new $2 million seed+ round. The latest round was led by investment firm Sfermion and also saw investments by Reciprocal Ventures, Big Brain Holdings, 32-Bit Ventures, and 6th Man Ventures.

This marks the second round of seed funding for Third Time Entertainment following a raise of $3.5 million in March 2022 which included investments by London Venture Partners and Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ:COIN).

“We are incredibly grateful for the trust and support from our investors. This new round of funding only further validates and fuels our journey ahead,” Third Time Entertainment founder and CEO Ian Cummings said. “The last year has been a challenging environment for fundraising, to say the least. Finding an amazing group of investors like this in a rough market validates our team and products to the rest of the world.”

The new funding round was oversubscribed, with Cummings saying the company could be looking at a larger funding round in “short order.”

Sfermion invested in the company thanks to the success of Photo Finish LIVE.

“The staggering success of Photo Finish LIVE is a testament to what Third Time Games is capable of,” Sfermion Managing partner Andrew Steinwold said. “What they have built has set the standard and we couldn’t be happier to be involved.”

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About Third Time Entertainment: Founded in 2015, Third Time Entertainment is a game development studio.

The founders of Third Time have over 45 years of combined experience in the gaming space. Co-founders Paul Fleetwood and Brian Fleming have experience at EA Sports, FanDuel and Zynga.

Co-founder and CEO Cummings is the former Madden NFL Creative Director, working on the bestselling NFL game from Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA). Cummings also created the Hit Stick, a feature in the Madden games.

The company launched its debut mobile game Photo Finish, a horse racing game, in 2015. The game has over 13 million downloads. The company also launched the Horse Racing Manager game in 2018. 

About Photo Finish LIVE: Launched in April 2023, Photo Finish LIVE is a Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) blockchain-based virtual horse racing simulator game.

The game incorporates elements of real horse racing with horse genealogy, breeding, life cycles, racing, and earnings all utilized. Players can earn real money rewards.

Photo Finish LIVE is the official game of the Kentucky Derby, the iconic horse race owned by Churchill Downs (NASDAQ:CHDN). The partnership with Churchill Downs saw Photo Finish LIVE have a presence at the race earlier this year.

The game is also a partner with NBC Sports, a unit of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) providing 3D simulations of the Kentucky Derby that are shown to viewers during the coverage of the Kentucky Derby.

Since launching, tens of thousands of races have been conducted on the platform, with daily competitions for cash prizes offered to horse owners.

The game has of over $2.6 million in virtual horse sales and an additional $2.5 million in race entry fees.

Photo Finish LIVE also has staking elements with its $CROWN token. A PFP collection of over 15,000 NFTs was launched on Solana and the studs and mares can be used to create horses for the game and also earn $CROWN if they are staked.

The floor price of the Photo Finish LIVE PFP is 23.35 SOL, or around $547 at the time of writing.

A marketplace on the Photo Finish Live website also offers horses for sale that can be raced, which are cheaper than the initial PFP NFTs.

What’s Next: The new capital raise is expected to help Third Time Entertainment expand its product offering, add team members and explore strategic partnerships.

“This is just the beginning. With the support of our investors and the community, we’re gearing up for an exciting journey ahead,” Cummings said.

On Saturday, Oct. 21, Photo Finish LIVE will host its virtual Kentucky Derby race featuring the top qualifying horses.

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