Flutter Entertainment is maintaining pace on its engagement with both the technology and charity sectors, announcing the winners of its 2025 Tech4Good Awards.
The NYSE gambling firm, one of the largest in the world with a market cap of just under £14bn, co-organised the event – run as a partnership between its Alpha Hub startup-focused vision and sports-facing community investment programme Beyond Sport.
The two winners of the 2025 awards – first place GoodGym and second place Civic Dollars – will share a prize fund of £60,000, while also receiving capacity bundling support from Flutter’s Alpha Hub and Beyond Sport.
Adam Burgess, Director of Programmes at Beyond Sport, commented: “By combining funding with tailored capability building support, these awards help organisations use technology to scale solutions that increase physical activity and deliver lasting health and community outcomes.”
Not Flutter’s first startup rodeo
Flutter Entertainment has a long history of working with startups. The firm set up the Alpha Hub way back in 2018, with the platform functioning as a way for startups to connect with its brands such as FanDuel in the US, as well as Sky Bet and Paddy Power in the UK and Ireland, among other brands and markets.
Since then, the company’s engagement with startups has covered a number of areas, including responsible gaming, and product development for female customers.
Over the past year, horse racing has become a big focal point, with Flutter and the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) identifying startups to work with on racing-related tech initiatives via the Future of Racing Summit.
In 2023, Flutter stepped up its search for startups to engage with its responsible gaming initiatives, in line with the group’s positive action plan. The Tech4Good award played a key role in this, as it has with Flutter’s more recent sports-focused initiatives.
Commenting on today’s award announcement, Rob Smith, Associate Director of Emerging Technologies and Insights at Flutter, added: “Flutter is a technology-driven business with over 8,000 technologists across the group. It makes sense for us to use our expertise to help these startups grow and scale.”
Meet the winners
As mentioned above, the first place winner in this year’s Tech4Good Awards was GoodGym, a London-based charity active in 68 areas across the UK since 2009.
The charity connects runners, walkers and cyclists to community tasks – the idea behind it being to help people get daily exercise via community actions.
Flutter chose the charity due to its AI-powered tool, Coach, developed to make it easier for people to find local activity and build community connections.
Darren Moore, Tech Lead at GoodGym, said: “This award is transformative – it means we can invest in technology and infrastructure that will help us connect thousands more people with their communities through movement.”
And in second place, Civic Dollars is a Belfast organisation which developed a geo-fencing community currency app to help incentivise outdoor activity. The app rewards people with an in-app currency, also called Civil Dollars, for every 30 minutes spent in parks and public spaces.
The dollars can be exchanged for health-focused courses such as yoga, fitness, dance and healthy cooking, or earnings can be donated to local charities and community groups.
Dr Gráinne McAnee, Researcher at Civic Dollars, stated: “Being active and being healthy should be something that’s easy and accessible — not something that’s expensive, exclusive, or off-limits.”
The award announcements come at a time when the gambling sector is facing a serious amount of political scrutiny in the UK, making the value of community-focused initiatives and programmes even greater for the industry.
