DraftKings, a burgeoning fantasy sports website for daily competitors, announced that they have acquired competitor StarStreet and, simultaneously, that they’ve raised an additional $41 million in Series C funding. Both moves come at an optimum time for DraftKings, as fantasy football season (roughly half of the company’s business) is starting back up again.

StarStreet, who were previously a strong competitor for DraftKings, will see their founder move on to a new project:

The Series C funding round was contributed by Redpoint Ventures, GGV Capital, and Atlas Venture, with a new contribution from The Raine Group as well. The last round of funding for DraftKings came in November of 2013, in a move that totaled $25 million.

Rumors have been circulating for months, as reported in the BostInno Beat back in February, that StarStreet and their Playboy connection were going to be acquired. Still, the fact that the move is coming from DraftKings, and not a larger competitor (like Yahoo or ESPN) indicates the company’s growing power in the fantasy industry. Utilizing their format of hosting daily competitions (and not traditionally seasonal ones) has paid off, given that DraftKings continue to draw in more and more of the 37 million users who play fantasy sports in the U.S. and Canada.

 

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