PoolTogether DeFi App Announces $1M Investment After No-Loss Lottery Payout Tops $1K

Pool Together, a "no-loss lottery," has announced they've raised $1.05 million in a round led by IDEO CoLab Ventures with participation from ConsenSys and DTC Capital. The platform operates by users depositing money which immediately goes into Compound to begin earning interest. At the end of the week, one winner receives the collective interest earned and everyone is able to receive their principal back. Last week, the pool reached over $1 million DAI as a winner received $1,400. In addition, the team launched a new USDC pool seeded by $100,00 of their money which will not be eligible to win, meaning early participants will have an expected value greater than simply earning interest on their own.

Why it matters

• It's no secret that Americans like to gamble as they spend over $70 billion in lotteries. Given the astronomically low-odds to win, it amounts to a tax for those who are bad at statistics. However, PoolTogether's model gives people a means to get their gambling fix in without having to pay for anything.
• The no-loss system is something uniquely enabled by crypto that couldn't operate in the fiat-world since the seamless entry and exit into a money-market is not feasible. This could give rise to use cases outside of lotteries that look to raise and allocate capital without requesting money.