How Lucra raised $20M as an eSports play when every VC only wants AI

Slapping "AI" on your startup’s pitch deck is basically table stakes right now. When a founder raised $20 million from Cathie Wood's ARK Invest (techcrunch.com/2026/04/22/cathie-woods-ark-mak…) for an eSports gamification loyalty startup without those two letters in the spotlight, it got us wondering how the conversation even started — especially when ARK had already been burned by a company operating in the same space.

On this episode of TechCrunch's Equity (techcrunch.com/podcasts/equity) podcast, Julie Bort sits down with Dylan Robbins (linkedin.com/in/dylan-robbins-56338b63), founder and CEO of Lucra, the white-label platform turning friendly competitions into loyalty programs for brands like golf courses, arcades, and pickleball clubs.

Listen to the full episode to hear about:

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How Dylan met his ARK connection over a game of darts at a New York City bar

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Why pitching a non-AI company in peak AI fundraising season meant addressing it head-on, even when it had nothing to do with his business

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How being honest with investors about what wasn't working yet actually helped him close the round

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Why Lucra pivoted from consumer to B2B in 45 days (and why that pivot is what convinced ARK they weren't looking at another Skillz (robbinsllp.com/skillz-inc)).

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