Sightline Payments Hits $1B Valuation, Becomes Nevada’s First Fintech Unicorn

Posted on: August 17, 2021, 09:57h. 

Last updated on: August 17, 2021, 03:33h.

Todd Shriber @etfgodfather Read More
Expertise: Financial, Gaming Business, Mergers and Acquisitions.

Sightline Payments, a provider of cashless gaming solutions, has eclipsed a private market valuation of more than $1 billion, making the company Nevada’s first fintech “unicorn.”

Sightline Payments
Las Vegas Golden Knights owner Bill Foley. His company and other investors poured $244 million into Sightline Payments, valuing the fintech firm at $1 billion. (Image: LVSportsBiz)

“Unicorn” is financial parlance for closely held companies with valuations of at least $1 billion. Just 700 global startups have the unicorn designation. Las Vegas-based Sightline reached that status following a $244 million funding round led by Bill Foley’s Cannae Holdings (NYSE:CNNE).

In addition to Cannae Holdings, this funding round included existing investors Genting Group, Point Break Capital Management, and founding investor Walter Kortschak,” according to a statement.

Sightline’s cashless gaming systems are used at Resorts World Las Vegas. That $4.3 billion integrated resort, which debuted nearly two months ago, is owned by Genting.

Sightline Funding Arrives as Cashless Gaming Takes Off

The aforementioned $244 million investment in Sightline follows a $100 million funding round in April that was led by Cannae Holdings and Foley. It included Kortschak, Genting Group, Point Break Capital, Searchlight Capital Partners, Shift4 Ventures, and Vectr Ventures.

Investors’ enthusiasm comes as more brick-and-mortar casinos are embracing cashless gaming in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Reducing the use of cash in casinos is an efficient avenue for operators’ improving health and safety protocols, and some executives are going so far as to call cash “antiquated.”

Beyond increased adoption in the land-based casino market, Sightline is tethered to other fast-growing gaming segments, including iGaming and sports wagering, as well as lottery and racing.

“Payments companies like Sightline Payments helped sports betting grow by nearly 70 percent and iGaming by nearly 200 percent in 2020,” according to the company. “The combined online sports betting and online casino market is projected to grow from $3 billion in 2020 to $22 billion by 2026.”

Some longer-ranging online casino and sports betting projections are far higher than that. Sightline’s online clients include BetMGM, Caesars, DraftKings, FanDuel and WynnBET, among others.

Sightline Funding Could Be Another Big Win for Foley

In the statement revealing the latest funding round and the $1 billion valuation, Sightline doesn’t discuss the possibility of an initial public offering (IPO). But that is a step many unicorns eventually take.

Should that happen, it’d be a windfall for investors like Foley’s Cannae and Genting. For his part, Foley, the owner of the National Hockey League’s Las Vegas Golden Knights, has an impressive track record of digital gaming investments.

Last year, his special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Foley Trasimene Acquisition Corp. II revealed plans to merge with Paysafe Group Holdings Ltd., a processor of online payments for online sportsbooks. Paysafe now trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker “PSFE.”

In May, Foley’s Austerlitz Acquisition Corp. I (NYSE:AUS), another blank-check firm, agreed to merge with Wynn Interactive to bring that company public. That deal has an estimated post-transaction enterprise value of $3.2 billion.