HERALD VIEW

IN a country obsessed with football, a Scottish business focused entirely on American sports is hitting its stride. But its success arguably says more about Scotland’s burgeoning technology expertise than the fields it plays in.

FanDuel has burnished Scotland’s reputation for skill and enterprise in technology by securing $275 million of backing from some seriously big names in the investment world.

That KKR, Google Capital and Time Warner Investments have thrown their weight behind FanDuel signals the enormous potential its daily fantasy sports model has to offer.

Since setting up in 2009, the company has built up 41 million active users. Those users shared a prize pot of $560m last year and FanDuel hopes to pay out $1.5 billion this year.

The faith shown by investors suggests there is even more growth to come, and FanDuel said it will use the multimillion dollar backing to ramp up its player base, beef up its management team and develop new products.

Happily, FanDuel believes there is sufficient talent here in Scotland to power its ambitions. The company is close to launching a new office in Glasgow where it is aiming to take on 200 software specialists.

It is testament to the skills we have here in Scotland that FanDuel sees fit to anchor operations in Glasgow and indeed its home city of Edinburgh. With Scotland’s software expertise already being mined by firms such as Skyscanner, 4G Studios and, before them, Rockstar North, the future of the technology sector is looking bright.