Sharp Alpha Advisors Closes $150 Million Fund for Customer Acquisition

This new fund marks the third for Sharp Alpha, but it is the first to employ a non-dilutive investment structure. The capital comes from an undisclosed “large institutional partner” and is intended for deployment over the next 24 months.

Non-Dilutive Capital for Growth

The Sharp Alpha UA Fund I utilizes an innovative cohort-based financing approach. This structure allows the fund to align capital deployment directly with a portfolio company’s customer acquisition performance. The key advantage for recipient companies is the ability to retain full ownership and avoid restrictive debt covenants.

Instead of taking equity stakes, Sharp Alpha plans to recoup its investment from the revenue generated by the new customers the funding helped acquire. Individual investments from the fund will range from $4 million to $30 million, with the potential for further investments as the relationship matures.

The fund will be managed by Sharp Alpha Managing Partner Lloyd Danzig, alongside a team of experts in quantitative finance and institutional credit.

Targeting Profitable, Consumer-Facing Firms

The fund will focus primarily on U.S.-based companies that are profitable or close to breaking even. These target companies should have an annual revenue range between $10 million and $100 million.

The target sectors for this consumer-focused capital include:

• Online gaming
• Prediction markets
• Sports media
• E-commerce
• Health and wellness
• Interactive entertainment

In addition to funding, Sharp Alpha announced the fund will provide portfolio companies with strategic resources. These resources include proprietary benchmarking, software development support, regulatory advice, brand partnerships, and product launch acceleration. Sharp Alpha has previously invested in firms such as Jackpot.com, SlamBall, and GridRival.