Waterhouse VC
1 known investors
Find your way into Waterhouse VC
998 people in our graph share verified history with the Waterhouse VC team — schools, employers, funds. One of them is your warm intro.
Waterhouse VC is a venture capital fund that invests in high-growth B2B companies in the global wagering and gaming industry, focusing on businesses with a sustainable competitive advantage. It targets less-understood B2B suppliers rather than brand-name B2C betting operators.
Also known as Waterhouse VC Fund · WaterhouseVC.com
Founders & leadership
Investors · 1
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Waterhouse VC is an investment fund specialising in publicly listed and private businesses in the wagering and gaming sectors. It was founded in August 2019 by Tom Waterhouse, who serves as Chief Investment Officer. The fund is structured as an open-ended managed unit trust and is available only to Wholesale Investors, who can apply monthly via an online application form or a paper application attached to the Information Memorandum. The Waterhouse family, which the firm describes as having more than 100 years of involvement in wagering and related industries, acts as cornerstone investor and provides network, contacts and capital.
The fund concentrates on business-to-business suppliers of technology and services to wagering operators, which it argues are less well understood by investors than brand-name B2C operators. It cites a global wagering industry valued at US$1 trillion and forecast to reach US$1.4 trillion by 2030. Portfolio construction is split across two pillars: "Option Deals", in which Waterhouse VC negotiates options to buy non-controlling stakes in wagering technology suppliers for minimal upfront cost (typically under 0.1% of the fund), and "Global Equities", a defensive listed-equity allocation intended to preserve capital and maintain liquidity to exercise options. An earlier profile described the fund as investing across three categories: dominant scale operators in regulated markets, B2B services to wagering operators, and areas converging with wagering such as video gaming and media, and noted that the fund offered quarterly liquidity with no investment lock-up period.
Waterhouse VC also publishes regular market commentary through monthly fund updates and media appearances, covering topics such as CFTC-regulated prediction-market exchanges (Kalshi, Polymarket), parlay economics and market making, land-based casino investment, and consolidation among Australian wagering operators.
Founding story
Tom Waterhouse founded Waterhouse VC in August 2019 to apply more than 20 years of gaming and wagering experience to investing. He was awarded a bookmaker's licence in 2003 at age 20 after completing a Bachelor of Commerce and by 2008 was Australia's largest and most profitable on-course bookmaker, with annual turnover reported to exceed $200 million. In 2010 he launched TomWaterhouse.com with three staff; the business had grown to about 100 employees and 250,000 clients when it was sold to William Hill in 2013.
Business model
Waterhouse VC operates as a wholesale managed investment fund (unit trust) that raises capital from Wholesale Investors and deploys it into listed and unlisted wagering and gaming businesses, generating returns through capital growth on option deals and equities plus regular income from its diversified holdings.
The fund reports gross performance before all fees and expenses, indicating an investor fee structure applied to the managed unit trust; specific fee terms are not disclosed on the site.
Traction
The firm reported a gross total return of +3,597% since inception (annualised at 83%) as at 31 July 2025, before fees and expenses and assuming reinvestment of distributions; it also published gross performance as at 31 July 2026. A third-party investor database lists one recorded investment, including one lead investment.
Latest developments
Monthly fund updates published in mid-2026 focused on prediction markets as a commercial hedging channel for businesses, the migration of high-margin parlay flow onto regulated prediction-market exchanges and the role of professional betting syndicates as market makers, and the case for a digital layer around land-based casinos amid more than $35 billion of casino deals backed by Barry Diller and Tilman Fertitta. In August 2026 Tom Waterhouse appeared on Ausbiz to discuss Tabcorp's agreed acquisition of BetMakers and rising prediction-market volumes, and in July 2026 the firm hosted a discussion with Bernard Marantelli, founder of White Swan Data, on market making in sports prediction markets.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history
Market position
The fund positions itself as a specialist wagering and gaming investor with family-derived industry access, targeting overlooked B2B suppliers rather than consumer-facing operators, and differentiating from other venture funds through an options-based deal structure and investor liquidity terms.
Waterhouse VC uses an options-only investment structure - a standardised three-year option to acquire 20% equity at a predetermined price - which limits upfront capital outlay and downside risk while avoiding immediate founder dilution. It combines this with the Waterhouse family's industry network, an in-house engineering team and a 400-strong network of industry investors to support follow-on fundraising for portfolio companies.
Technology
The firm maintains an in-house engineering team and offers portfolio companies access to "Waterhouse Technology" tools; technical review and product testing form part of its diligence filter alongside financial projections, risk analysis and expert consultation.
Go-to-market
Deal flow is sourced from the Waterhouse network, attendance at more than 10 global industry conferences a year, investor referrals, and inbound and outbound outreach, with founders directed to a structured "Pitch Us" submission process promising a response within three working days. Investor acquisition runs through the fund's website, Information Memorandum, online application form and published research and media commentary.
On the investment side, revenue-generating B2B suppliers of innovative or critical technology and services to wagering operators, with contracts, standout technology and an ambitious management team; applications are accepted from companies in any location. On the capital-raising side, Wholesale Investors only.
Geography
Based in Australia (Oceania), the fund invests globally in listed and unlisted wagering businesses and accepts pitches from companies in any location.
History
After selling TomWaterhouse.com to William Hill, Tom Waterhouse became CEO of William Hill Australia in 2014, running the William Hill, TomWaterhouse.com, Centrebet and Sportingbet brands with roughly 500 staff, around one million clients, $2 billion in turnover and offices in Australia, the Philippines and Tel Aviv. William Hill sold its Australian business to The Stars Group in 2018; Waterhouse bought back the TomWaterhouse.com brand and relaunched it in May 2018 as a subscription tipping service. Later in 2018 he co-founded Listed Reserve, a wholesale fund focused on decentralised technologies. Waterhouse VC was launched in 2019 with an inception date of 19 August 2019, and in 2020 he launched the odds comparison app WaterhouseTips.com, with the tipping business consolidated onto that site the following year.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 5
launches, deals, and filingsMedia appearance in which the CIO discussed Tabcorp's agreed acquisition of BetMakers, consolidation in Australian wagering and rising prediction-market volumes.
Waterhouse VC hosted a discussion with Bernard Marantelli, founder of White Swan Data, covering volume growth, RFQ parlays and the market-making competitive landscape.
Tom Waterhouse appeared on Ausbiz with Juliette Saly to discuss prediction markets such as Polymarket and Kalshi relative to traditional sportsbooks.
Tom Waterhouse launched an odds comparison app allowing punters to place wagers with multiple bookmakers; the tipping business was consolidated onto the site the following year.
Tom Waterhouse founded Waterhouse VC in August 2019 and serves as Chief Investment Officer; the fund's stated inception date is 19 August 2019.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- Waterhouse VCwaterhousevc.com · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Waterhouse VC do?
- Australian wholesale investment fund founded by Tom Waterhouse that backs B2B technology suppliers to the wagering and gaming industry.
- Who founded Waterhouse VC?
- Waterhouse VC was founded by Tom Waterhouse.
- Who are Waterhouse VC's investors?
- Waterhouse VC's investors include Yolo Investments.