Smarkets

Smarkets is a betting exchange, founded in 2008 by Americans Jason Trost and Hunter Morris. It has offices in central London and Malta, and markets itself as the more "advanced trading platform" alternative to its larger rival, Betfair. Smarkets is backed by a consortium of European investors, including former last.fm chairman Stefan Glaenzer, Passion Capital and Deutsche Telekom.

As a trading platform, all betting is peer-to-peer rather than against a bookmaker; Smarkets allows traders to agree odds between themselves. Establishing a reputation for its political betting, Smarkets also offers betting on sports, current affairs and popular culture.

Smarkets has been listed as one of 10 European startups to watch by the Wall Street Journal, and in 2012 was named in the Startups 100 awards as one of the UK's most innovative, inspiring and groundbreaking new companies.

In April 2015, Smarkets announced that they have handled over 1 billion pounds worth of trades and that figure passed the 3 billion mark in 2016 after the company filed its first audited annual report.

Smarkets became Queens Park Rangers' Global Betting Partner in August 2015 and upgraded its sponsorship of the football team to front-of-shirt in June 2016.