Sightline Payments’ latest funding round results in fintech unicorn status

August 18, 2021 6:13 PM
  • Rege Behe, CDC Gaming Reports
August 18, 2021 6:13 PM
  • Rege Behe, CDC Gaming Reports

When Sightline Payments was founded ten years ago by Omer Sattar, Tom Sears, and Kirk Sanford, their goals were modest. They wanted to develop and integrate cashless technology for the gaming industry and do it in a way that was safe and promoted responsible gaming. They also wanted to be able to continuously reinvest in their business to keep abreast of new technology and trends.

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On Tuesday, the trio’s efforts paid off with the announcement that Sightline’s recent $244 million funding round gives Sightline fintech unicorn status, with a valuation over $1 billion.

It’s estimated that approximately 700 companies worldwide have reached unicorn status, and Sightline Payments is the state of Nevada’s first fintech unicorn.

“I’ve always believed if you deliver the right product that makes sense and consumers want to use it, and most importantly it actually solves an issue for our industry, it fixes something that is broken, the valuation will come,” Sattar said Wednesday in a phone interview. “It’s like you were told when you were a kid: do something right and everything else will come along with it.”

The funding round was the second for Sightline Payments this year; an earlier funding round in April reached $100 million. Part of the appeal for investors was the opening of Resorts World Las Vegas, the first all-new gaming property on the Vegas Strip in 10 years. Sightline Payments’ cashless technology is integrated throughout Resorts World, making it the world’s first casino/resort where guests can pay for anything with cashless payments.

William P. Foley, chairman of Cannae Holdings, one of the investors in the latest funding round, said in a statement that he was impressed by the integration of Sightline’s technology at Resorts World.

“After seeing Sightline’s groundbreaking technology firsthand at the recent launch of Resorts World Las Vegas, I am more bullish than ever about Sightline’s ability to be at the forefront of the digital transformation afoot in the North American gaming, sports, and entertainment ecosystem,” Foley said. “I look forward to helping Sightline continue their tremendous growth.”

Sightline’s valuation occurs just as the gaming industry is on brink of groundbreaking changes. Mobile sports betting and igaming have become increasingly prevalent across the U.S. The COVID-19 pandemic spurred the use of touchless technology. And as gaming customers flock back to brick-and-mortar casinos, there’s demand for new ways to safely gamble, whether at slot machines, table games, or sportsbooks.

Satter noted that as consumers become more “digitally savvy,” the gaming industry is charged with keep pace with other industries.

“In the gaming industry, we make the distinction between paying with cash or without cash,” Sattar said. “But in your real life, you don’t think about that. When you go to Starbucks, you don’t think about `hey, I’m going to pay with cash or cashless.’ You just pay. … We want the gaming industry to be like that, where it’s seamless.”

Part of the monies from the new round of funding will be earmarked for research and development, and investment in technology. While Sightline Payments has established itself as an industry leader in cashless payments, Satter acknowledges it’s necessary to stay current with new tech developments.

“Our goal is to look in the outside world, outside of gaming and around the world for technologies that the really smart people in the world are doing and building and have deployed,” he said.  “And then thinking about how do we bring it back into gaming. So, it’s all about driving innovation through product and technology.”