Digitain

The casino and sports betting platform provider has recruited Simon Westbury as its head of international business development, bringing a wealth of experience to the role.

Expressing delight to be joining the firm as well as excitement at “ambitious expansion plans,” Westbury’s most recent role was as CCO of VSoftCo where he was responsible for growing the firm’s customer base, strengthening relationships with partners and elevating the brand to become a stand-alone leading supplier within the virtual sports space. 

Suren Khachatryan, CCO at Digitain, said of the appointment: “His proven ability to work with a wide range of commercial stakeholders, as well as his deep understanding of global markets, makes him a perfect fit for us. I’m very confident that he will play a major role in helping us achieve our growth targets and contribute to our success for many years to come.” 

Svenska Spel

Eva Stoppel is to take up the role of CFO at Swedish state-owned gambling operator Svenska Spel, and will formally assume the position on Sunday September 1, 2019.

Forming a part of group management and reporting to the CEO, Stoppel joins from Swedbank after a long career in the Bonnier Group that included being investment director at Bonnier AB, and CFO of Bonnier News, Daily News and Scribona Sverige.

Patrik Hofbauer, president and CEO at Svenska Spel, commented: “I am very happy to welcome Eva Stoppel to Svenska Spel. In addition to her extensive experience as CFO she has valuable expertise in business development and change management. 

“She also has knowledge of digital transformation, something that will be a great asset for us. With Eva, we get a CFO who has all these key elements and who also knows how it is to work in regulated and highly competitive industries”

Of the appointment Stoppel added: “I am very pleased to be entrusted with responsibility for the finance and business support function for Svenska Spel. I hope to contribute with my experience in charge of management and digital transformation in other competitive industries”

Helio Gaming

Lottery games provider Helio Gaming has strengthened its operational arm, with the appointment of Keith Galea as chief operating officer.

Bringing a “demonstrable track record of operational success,” Galea joins Helio from Bit8 where he occupied the chief product officer position, but despite the new role will maintain his position of managing director at his consultancy firm Consult Labs.

Richard Mifsud, CEO at Helio Gaming, stated: “We’re delighted to announce the appointment of Keith as COO. Having invested in Helio Gaming, he understands how we work, and the experience he offers will take us to the next level.

“The addition of Keith will play a major role in helping us achieve our growth targets, and be an important member of the team for many years to come.

Okto Group

Okto Group, the financial technology provider, has appointed Simon Dorsen as director of gaming as it strives to consolidate its presence and drive its growth in the industry.

Set to be supported by “a growing team of gaming experts,” Dorsen joins as the firm sets a vision to gamify the payment experience, and establishing Okto “as the true player’s wallet”.

Filippos Antonopoulos, co-founder of Okto, said of the appointment: “Simon is an industry veteran with a gamer’s heart and the entrepreneurial spirit to drive growth and positive disruption in our industry. We welcome him with delight.

“We have been tailoring our market-leading payments and financial ecosystem to the gaming industry to provide a full-service payments and fintech model. Simon’s proven ability across a wide range of well-known gaming suppliers and operators, as well as his deep understanding of the technology behind it, makes him a perfect fit.

“I firmly believe that he will play a major role in successfully growing our gaming business.”

Bringing 16 years experience across the gaming and payment sectors, Dorsen has previously held senior roles with Trustly, GTech and IGT, where he is credited with establishing the company’s first omni-channel sales team.

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Allowing players to buy unlimited tickets as well as interact with its hostesses via a live chat facility, the new offering affords users the chance to scoop jackpots of up to €50,000 from broadcasts every three minutes throughout the day and night.

The products are designed to enhance player acquisition and retention, in addition to helping operators cross-sell attainable jackpots to both casino and sportsbook customers.

Helio’s range now boasts the hero family of high-frequency, customisable lottery games, as well as betting on some of the world’s biggest state-run lotteries and live offerings.

Richard Mifsud, CEO of Helio Gaming, stressed that hostesses would add a touch of glamour to the studio: “We are delighted to launch our live lotteries and are confident that it will be a great addition to operators in a wide variety of markets. 

“As we have seen from live casino, players love the interaction they get with hostesses and the excitement generated from a live event – particularly when there are life-changing sums of money available every few minutes. 

“Not only is it a great standalone product, it is also hugely complementary to existing sportsbook and casino sites and can be a great acquisition and retention tool.”

Helio’s launch follows the news that it has signed a new content-based deal with BetConstruct’s B2C online sportsbook and gaming brand, Vbet. 

The agreement sees the provider’s entire portfolio of lotto games, including their customisable family of hero titles, made available to Vbet players, giving them access to daily, weekly and event-based draws.

Requiring no skill or pre-existing knowledge, the titles strive to boost acquisition and retention as well as enhancing an operator’s ability to cross-sell players through the offer of high-frequency jackpots.

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The agreement sees the provider’s entire portfolio of lotto games, including their customisable family of hero titles, made available to Vbet players, giving them access to daily, weekly, and event-based draws, as well affording the ability to bet on the outcome of some of the world’s biggest international lotteries.

Requiring no skill or pre-existing knowledge, the titles strive to boost acquisition and retention as well as enhancing an operator’s ability to cross-sell to both casino and sportsbook players through the offer of high-frequency jackpots.

Vigen Badalyan, CEO at Vbet, commented: “We’re very pleased to be able to add Helio Gaming’s games to our product mix. They are one of the most interesting lottery suppliers in the industry at the moment and we know our customers will be delighted with their products.”

Helio offers several customisable lottery games including daily, weekly, and event-based draws, which can be branded by individual operators to appeal to a large number of player demographics. 

With unlimited jackpots, the draws can use the supplier’s certified RNG or live broadcast using existing casino studios, and even include non-monetary prizes such as cars, yachts, and luxury holidays.

Richard Mifsud, CEO at Helio Gaming, added: “We are thrilled to be up and running with Vbet, who are one of the most popular operators in central Asia. 

“We are always evolving our suite of games in order to tailor them to individual markets and I’m confident there will be something for everyone here, whether they are existing lottery players, or arrive from sportsbook or casino.” 

Last month Vbet announced its biggest commitment to the UK betting market, confirming that it has become the official betting partner of Arsenal FC.

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One such organisation occupying a portion of this space is Helio Gaming, who are coming out of a busy first quarter and eyeing an equally as bustling rest of the year.

Recent deals saw Asian opportunities embraced before Risq recruited the firm to drive its jackpot offering. Richard Mifsud, Helio’s CEO, spoke to SBC News about a variety of issues, starting with a quick update on how the vertical has changed in recent times:

“For many years, lottery was seen as the ugly duckling of the gambling world, particularly when it came to innovation,” he said. “Despite being a huge industry, and probably the most common form of wagering on the planet, it was beginning to wither on the vine.

“It was concentrated in the hands of very few, often state-run, operators, and primarily retail-focused, with an ageing demographic. Whilst other sectors embraced online, and mobile in particular, it wasn’t really making that transition. In truth, this was mostly because the majority of lotteries were sitting in a very comfortable and protected position as state monopolies.

“The advent of betting on lotteries has really shaken that up. There is a new-found desire to reach out to a newer, younger demographic with an improved product that chimes with modern consumer habits, and is far more relevant to today’s casual gambler.”

“We are hopeful that this product will have a similar effect to what live dealer had to casino”

With this wave of demand currently enjoyed, Mifsud moved on to address how Helio evolves its product to suit the changing landscape. He added: “Players want far more regularity and accessibility when it comes to lottery, just like they get through other gaming verticals such as sportsbook and casino.

“The days of waiting for a weekly draw are well and truly over. We have a number of different lottery draws available in the Hero family of games, and our betting on international lotteries is very popular.

“We will shortly add a new dimension by broadcasting live lottery draws from our studios here in Malta that bring a unique interactive and visual excitement to the process. It is probably too early to compare the two as equals, but we are hopeful that this product will have a similar effect to what live dealer had to casino.”

“The beauty of modern lottery products is that any operator can take advantage. State lotteries have been bolstering their offering with casino, but with a more nuanced and varied selection of lottery products they can engage their existing audience far more, as well as attracting new customers.

“It is also a hugely attractive product to cross-sell to existing customers”

“But casino and sportsbooks can also set up their own lottery tab to attract new customers who might not ordinarily seek out their site. It is also a hugely attractive product to cross-sell to existing customers in between sports bets or casino sessions.”

Concluding, Mifsud gave a brief insight into where Helio sees, and is looking to embrace, further growth: “The simple answer is everywhere,” he said. “But I’d say that for us in particular, we’re looking at Asia and Africa. We were out in Manila last month attending various conferences and there was a lot of interest.

“We’ve also been very active in a number of different African companies. We already have clients live across the continent, but there are a number of other operators in countries who could really benefit from modern lottery products.”

To read the full interview with Richard Mifsud, click here.

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Selecting to enter into partnership with the risk-management and insurance specialist, RISQ is to act as insurance supplier for betting on Helio’s range of lottery solutions and Hero Games suite of products.

Julian Borg-Barthet, RISQ’s director of business development, said of the deal. “We are very pleased that Helio Gaming has decided to use the RISQ iGaming insurance platform iGiP, to back the hero products and their betting on lottery suite.

“We are looking forward to a mutually beneficial and prosperous partnership. The new deal reflects a shift in the industry towards proprietary lottery games, and giving more players access to international lotteries”.

Via utilising the RISQ’s iGiP, Helio is to be able to offer high-value jackpots up to €150m as part of their Hero Games, custom branded lottery games and betting on international lottery games.

Richard Mifsud, CEO of Helio Gaming, commented: “Working with RISQ will give Helio Gaming the flexibility to deliver even more attractive lottery solutions to our clients. Partnering with RISQ will set new standards in delivering high frequency and high-value jackpots in the gaming industry”.

This follows the company setting its sights on a period of sustained Asian expansion, with Helio stressing an intention of building on the “popularity and prevalence of sportsbook and casino” across the region.

Mifsud added last month when revealing the fresh focus: “The popularity and prevalence of sportsbook and casino in Asia is undisputed, but the adoption of next generation lottery has yet to be exploited, particularly outside of the big state lotteries.

“Lottery used to be the domain of lottery operators only, but it is so much easier just to add the vertical to existing operations, where you can introduce new players to your site and cross-sell really appealing opportunities to win large jackpots to existing customers.

“The live lottery element will also be very appealing and fit easily given the preference for the live dealer format in casino. I really think lottery could be the next big thing in Asia.”

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Spearheaded by chief executive officer Richard Mifsud, stakeholders are to be told that the continent represents a “great opportunity” to embrace a growing new wave of online lottery products.

The organisation made its Asian debut in Macau and Japan last year, bringing a portfolio offering betting opportunities on a variety of international lotteries, which the organisation states “will have particular resonance to audiences in the Far East”.

Helio Gaming’s hero titles now include daily, weekly, and event-based draws, which can be branded by individual operators to appeal to a large number of player demographics.

Offering unlimited jackpots, the draws can use the supplier’s certified RNG or live broadcast using existing casino studios, and can include non-monetary prizes such as cars, yachts and luxury holidays.

Mifsud, who is to join nine other Malta-based suppliers in front of operators at the SiGMA roadshow in Manila, which takes place after the ASEAN gaming summit in the Philippines capital, commented: “The popularity and prevalence of sportsbook and casino in Asia is undisputed, but the adoption of next generation lottery has yet to be exploited, particularly outside of the big state lotteries.

“Lottery used to be the domain of lottery operators only, but it is so much easier just to add the vertical to existing operations, where you can introduce new players to your site and cross-sell really appealing opportunities to win large jackpots to existing customers.

“The live lottery element will also be very appealing and fit easily given the preference for the live dealer format in casino. I really think lottery could be the next big thing in Asia.”

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Following on from its success at the inaugural CasinoBeats Summit, a further agreement is to see the integration of Helio’s own branded lotto games and betting on international lotteries, which are to be made available to the platform’s operator partners.

The addition of this suite of tailored products “will offer players the chance to win life-changing prizes from small stakes, as sportsbooks and casinos are able to provide lottery options for the first time”.

Richard Mifsud, CEO at Helio Gaming, stated: “WeAreCasino has established a varied network of operator partners, and signing up with them is another exciting step for us.

“We are always striving to further the reach of our games, and we are confident that this new partnership will help us do that, particularly given their presence in Europe and a number of emerging markets.”

With no skill or pre-existing knowledge required to enjoy success, WeAreCasino hopes that via the integration the games will service as an acquisition and retention booster, whilst also enhancing the operator’s ability to cross-sell high-frequency jackpots.

Christian Maglia, CCO at WeAreCasino, added: “Helio Gaming has created a fantastic portfolio of lottery games, and we are sure their content will appeal to operators.

“We are always looking for engaging content which our partners can deliver to their customers, and deals such as this one will keep us on track to do that.”

This latest deal is a further boost for WeAreCasino, one the success stories of last month’s CasinoBeats Summit held in London, who just last week lauded the event as having a huge impact as the firm looked set to secure at least four deals on the back of the event.

Benefiting from a strong presence and a meeting room at the Summit, Maglia detailed that the supplier was further boosted by positive talks with Spinmatic, BeFee, 1X2Network and SpiffGaming at the event.

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