Most lotteries are stuck inside a single state or country, and usually, you have to visit a store to buy a ticket. Patrick Lung wanted to change that. He founded Megapot, a global lottery platform that lets people from around the world buy tickets straight from their phones.
Lung says the idea behind Megapot isn’t just about playing the lottery—it’s about bringing everyday people into the world of crypto. “I wanted to build something that can actually bring a billion people on chain, so they can get all the benefits of crypto,” he told Fortune. And crypto really is the engine behind the startup:
- Megapot runs on Base, a network built on Ethereum, which means anyone can access it and developers can build on top of it.
- Stablecoins, pegged to the U.S. dollar, are used to pay out winners worldwide.
Since its launch in January 2024, Megapot has grown steadily. People in more than 150 countries can buy a ticket for just $1, though the platform isn’t available in about 30 countries, including the U.S., the U.K., and France. So far, the lottery has celebrated 19 jackpot winners, with one lucky player taking home around $200,000.
Megapot isn’t Lung’s first rodeo in tech and crypto. He spent eight years at companies like Microsoft, Lyft, and Uniswap before diving into this venture. Today, the startup runs with a tight-knit team of seven employees.
The latest version of Megapot’s lottery launched on Tuesday, and the platform earns revenue by taking a small fee from each ticket sold. With a fresh $5 million funding round led by Dragonfly—and participation from Coinbase Ventures, Bankless Ventures, and the founders behind FanDuel, Betfair, and MyPrize—the company is ready to expand to even more countries. Lung didn’t reveal the startup’s valuation, but he’s focused on growth.
Lung sees traditional lotteries as Megapot’s main competition, but he believes his platform has a real edge: larger jackpots and better odds for players. He also has a personal motivation driving him: his mom. “I want to build a product that’s actually built for my mom. She’s been buying lottery tickets every weekend for two decades,” Lung said. “That’s what we’re trying to build… something anyone can pick up and instantly see why it exists.”
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