Scottish digital development firm xDesign has signed a multi-year partnership with formerly-Scottish sports gaming platform FanDuel to support new entrants to the technology industry.
The deal will see both companies invest £250,000 annually to build programmes encouraging people into the market, as well as creating a total of 400 new jobs by the end of 2022.
This will include increasing FanDuel’s engineering headcount by 250 people with the ability to work in its Scotland and US offices - located in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Atlanta.
XDesign will increase the team working on the FanDuel account by an additional 40 people, taking support for the business to 120 people based in Leeds and Edinburgh. The company also works with clients including Heineken, NHS 24 and MoneySuperMarket.
As a result of this agreement, xDesign will accelerate its growth plans and increase headcount by an additional 150 people to more than 350 by the end of 2022, with expectations that this will jump to over 500 people during 2024.
The move follows an 18-month commercial relationship between the two companies, where xDesign provides product and engineering support for FanDuel, part of Flutter Entertainment Group, which operates brands including Paddy Power and BetFair.
Euan Andrews, chief executive of xDesign, said: “Investing in people and creating a platform for future tech talent is a must to tackle the ever-widening tech skills gap.
“Extending our relationship with an organisation as successful as FanDuel will significantly contribute to identifying and cultivating the next generation of talent in the UK which both companies are fanatical about.”
Andy Giancamilli, chief operating officer at FanDuel, said: “The boom of the UK and Scottish tech sector is undeniable, and we believe this partnership with xDesign provides fantastic support and supplements the work our FanDuel world-class engineering teams do.”
FanDuel Group is headquartered in New York, but was founded in Edinburgh. It has become one of the fastest growing sports-tech entertainment companies globally.
In 2020, Flutter Entertainment Group took a majority share in the business for a reported $4.2bn.
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