Lottery.com is accelerating its global expansion strategy, having signed a revised stock purchase agreement to acquire 90% of the shares of UAE-based sports and wellness startup incubator Nook Holdings for $2.5 million in cash. The transaction is expected to be completed by June 30, 2025.
Nook, located in Dubai's One JLT and founded by Ravi Bhusari, focuses on providing shared office space and growth support for startups in the sports and wellness sectors. After the acquisition, Nook will be renamed Sports.com and will serve as the regional operating center for Lottery.com in the Middle East. This also marks the first significant landing in building a global Sports.com brand incubation network.
This acquisition is not an isolated action, but a replicable and scalable global development blueprint. Matthew McGahan, Chairman and CEO of Lottery.com, stated: "We adopt a modular expansion model, combining high-potential, high-cash-flow businesses to accelerate the deployment of the Sports.com and Lottery.com brands in international markets."
According to data provided by Nook, the company's net profit for the fiscal year 2024 was $354,000, expected to grow to $490,000 in 2025, with a growth rate of 38%.
Lottery.com plans to use this acquisition as a foundation to open a second Sports.com center in the Al Quoz commercial district of the UAE, expected to be operational in the fourth quarter of 2025. Subsequent regional hubs will be established in Riyadh, Jeddah, Abu Dhabi, and Greater Miami, USA, forming a startup support network covering the Middle East and North America.
Mark Bircham, the director of Lottery.com and the person in charge of the Sports.com acquisition, stated: "We are building a global framework that promotes rapid incubation of sports and health tech startups in high-growth markets through shared infrastructure. As long as we match the right business, our expansion potential in multiple verticals will be very significant."
This acquisition also marks a new development phase for Lottery.com. Following the recent dismissal of a lawsuit in Texas, the company stated that it would continue to focus on strategic execution and global growth, especially as the acquisition will become a core pivot to drive future growth, particularly after securing $18 million in funding and seeing initial success in brand restructuring at the end of 2023.
