Jesper Søgaard co-founded Better Collective in 2004 and has run the company ever since. Today, he shares the Co-CEO title with his longtime business partner, Christian Kirk Rasmussen. Together, the two Danish entrepreneurs turned a small side project into one of the largest sports betting media companies in the world.
Søgaard was born in Denmark in 1983. He holds a Master of Science in Political Science from the University of Copenhagen. Under his leadership, Better Collective has grown into a publicly traded company with brands that reach sports fans and bettors across the United States, Europe, and Latin America.
For U.S. readers, Søgaard’s name is closely tied to The Action Network, the American sports betting media brand Better Collective bought in 2021. That deal, along with a string of other acquisitions, helped push the company deep into the U.S. market just as states across the country began legalizing sports betting.
Quick Facts
| Detail | Information |
| Full Name | Jesper Søgaard |
| Title | Co-Founder & Co-CEO |
| Company | Better Collective A/S |
| Born | 1983 |
| Nationality | Danish |
| Education | M.Sc. in Political Science, University of Copenhagen |
| Company Founded | 2004 |
| Headquarters | Copenhagen, Denmark |
| Stock Listing | Nasdaq Stockholm & Nasdaq Copenhagen (Ticker: BETCO) |
| Business Partner | Christian Kirk Rasmussen, Co-CEO |
Career Timeline
| Year | Milestone |
| 2002 | Co-founds CasinoVerdiener, a German-language betting bonus site, with Christian Kirk Rasmussen during a gap year in Berlin |
| 2004 | Co-founds Better Collective in Copenhagen and becomes CEO |
| 2018 | Leads Better Collective’s initial public offering on Nasdaq Stockholm |
| 2019 | Co-founds Dreamcraft Ventures, a venture capital firm, with Christian Kirk Rasmussen |
| 2020 | Oversees the acquisition of HLTV.org, entering the esports market |
| 2021 | Leads the $240 million acquisition of The Action Network, Better Collective’s largest deal at the time |
| 2021 | Launches Gamalyze, a responsible gambling self-assessment tool |
| 2022 | Oversees the acquisition of Futbin, expanding the esports portfolio |
| 2023 | Better Collective dual-lists on Nasdaq Copenhagen |
| 2024 | Oversees completion of the roughly €176 million Playmaker Capital acquisition |
| 2025 | Better Collective adopts a Co-CEO structure; Christian Kirk Rasmussen joins Søgaard in the role |
| 2025 | Launches Playbook, an AI-powered betting tool, and signs a partnership with X |
Education
Jesper Søgaard earned a Master of Science degree in Political Science from the University of Copenhagen. He built Better Collective while still a student, balancing coursework with running the company’s early operations alongside Christian Kirk Rasmussen.
How Jesper Søgaard Built Better Collective
Jesper Søgaard’s business career started before he finished college. In 2002, he and his high school friend Christian Kirk Rasmussen took a gap year in Berlin, Germany. While there, they noticed a gap in how online casinos explained their bonus offers. So they built CasinoVerdiener, a website that taught German-speaking bettors how to make the most of bookmaker promotions. The site found an audience fast.
Two years later, in 2004, the pair turned that early success into a real company. They founded Better Collective in Copenhagen, working out of a small apartment while both were still university students. Søgaard took on the CEO role, a job he has held in some form ever since.
Growth stayed slow and steady for years. Then Søgaard led the company through its 2018 initial public offering on Nasdaq Stockholm, a milestone that gave Better Collective the capital to grow faster. From there, he built a reputation for acquiring companies rather than only growing from scratch. He oversaw the purchase of HLTV.org in 2020, giving Better Collective a foothold in esports. A year later, he led the company’s biggest deal yet: the $240 million purchase of The Action Network, a leading U.S. sports betting media brand. That single acquisition helped make the United States one of Better Collective’s most important markets.
Søgaard kept up the pace with the Futbin acquisition in 2022 and the roughly €176 million purchase of Playmaker Capital in 2024, which strengthened the company’s position in South America. By 2025, Better Collective had grown into a company with brands reaching hundreds of millions of sports fans a month, and Søgaard had shifted into a Co-CEO role alongside Christian Kirk Rasmussen, focusing on strategy, dealmaking, and outside partnerships while Rasmussen leads product and operations.
Major Achievements
- Built a publicly traded company from scratch: Søgaard grew Better Collective from a two-person side project into a company listed on two stock exchanges, with brands that draw roughly 450 million visits a month.
- Led the largest deal in company history: The 2021 purchase of The Action Network for $240 million gave Better Collective a strong foothold in the fast-growing U.S. sports betting market.
- Diversified into esports: Acquisitions of HLTV.org (2020) and Futbin (2022) built out Better Collective’s esports media portfolio, adding audiences beyond traditional sports betting.
- Expanded into South America: The 2024 acquisition of Playmaker Capital, valued at roughly €176 million, made Better Collective a market leader in Brazil and across Latin America.
- Championed responsible gambling: Søgaard launched Gamalyze in 2021, a self-assessment tool built with Mindway AI that helps bettors check their own gambling habits.
- Pushed into AI-powered products: In 2025, Søgaard’s team launched Playbook, an AI tool that turns betting content into ready-made bet slips, and struck a partnership with X to bring it to more sports fans.
- Co-founded a venture capital firm: Alongside running Better Collective, Søgaard co-founded Dreamcraft Ventures in 2019, which invests in early-stage European tech companies.
Awards & Recognition
| Award | Year | Detail |
| Executive of the Year, Global Gaming Awards London (Shortlist) | 2022 | Recognized for The Action Network acquisition, expansion into the Dutch market, and the launch of Gamalyze |
| Executive of the Year, Global Gaming Awards EMEA (Shortlist) | 2024 | Recognized for Better Collective’s acquisition-led growth strategy |
| Affiliate Leader of the Year, SBC Affiliate Leaders Awards | 2025 | Shared with co-founder Christian Kirk Rasmussen at the inaugural ceremony in Lisbon |
Søgaard has been shortlisted for Executive of the Year at the Global Gaming Awards twice, in 2022 and again in 2024. In September 2025, he and Christian Kirk Rasmussen jointly won Affiliate Leader of the Year at the first-ever SBC Affiliate Leaders Awards in Lisbon, recognizing their more than two decades building Better Collective together.
Life Outside Better Collective
Running Better Collective hasn’t stopped Søgaard from investing elsewhere. In 2019, he and Christian Kirk Rasmussen co-founded Dreamcraft Ventures, a venture capital firm that backs early-stage tech companies across Europe, mostly in fintech, digital entertainment, and B2B software. Through Dreamcraft, Søgaard has held stakes in a range of companies, including esports organization Astralis, payments company Banking Circle, fantasy sports platform RotoQL, lending company YouLend, media firm Sun Maker, and apparel brand Organic Basics — all of which the firm has since exited. Søgaard also holds board and executive roles connected to his personal holding companies in Denmark.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Jesper Søgaard?
Jesper Søgaard is the co-founder and Co-CEO of Better Collective, a publicly traded sports media company he started in 2004 with Christian Kirk Rasmussen.
What company does Jesper Søgaard run?
Søgaard runs Better Collective A/S, which owns sports betting and esports media brands including The Action Network, HLTV, and Futbin, along with dozens of other sites worldwide.
When did Jesper Søgaard become Co-CEO?
Søgaard was Better Collective’s sole CEO from 2004 until May 2025, when the company introduced a Co-CEO structure and Christian Kirk Rasmussen joined him in the role.
What is Jesper Søgaard’s biggest business deal?
His largest deal is the 2021 acquisition of The Action Network for $240 million, which remains Better Collective’s biggest purchase to date.
Does Jesper Søgaard invest in other companies?
Yes. He co-founded Dreamcraft Ventures in 2019, a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage European tech startups.