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LeoVegas Invest in New Tech Hub in Warsaw Despite Its Products Being Unavailable in Polish Market

Published

1 year ago

July 26, 2022

The Polish marketplace is a strange territory for the iGaming industry. On the one hand, it has some of the most technically able and potentially brilliant European talent who has done much to develop highly successful video games like The Witcher and Cyberpunk. This skill set is highly prized in the world of online casinos, slots, and sports betting simulation games. On the other hand, the legislature has cracked down hard on the gambling industry since the election of The Law and Justice Party to power under the leadership of Andrzej Duda. While punters in the country can still place a wager on a variety of sports betting and esports sites, all online casinos in Poland are run by the state-owned company Totalizator Sportowy which operates Total Casino.

LeoVegas is an igaming company that creates online slots and other popular casino games. Founded by Gustaf Hagman and Robin Ramm-Ericson in 2011, they have become one of Europe’s leading mobile gaming and companies. They are headquartered in Sweden, and their shares are traded on the Stockholm Nasdaq exchange. They recently announced that they would launch a new tech hub in Poland. In addition, the company is looking to strengthen its technological development and innovation.

Poland has been seen for a long time as a good option for the outsourcing of IT. The country is regarded as an IT and startup powerhouse. The outsourcing sector comprises around 700 software development companies that employ more than 150,000 specialists. The Polish workforce has a reputation for a strong work ethic and is highly educated. Krakow and Warsaw are the established tech locations, and Gdansk is quickly emerging as the next hub. In addition, Katowice has established itself as the eSports capital of Europe by investing in events and infrastructure.

In 2020 Poland was recognized as one of the most startup-friendly countries in Europe. As a result, Poland is seeing significant venture capital spending, and €477 million were raised in 2020. Like Silicon Valley, tech innovators inspire each other, leading to breakthroughs and success. Tim Draper, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist, has said that Poland is a generation ahead of other European countries in understanding the potential of tech and the market system.

LeoVegas’ new Polish hub will see them join other international companies with already established offices or R&D operations in the country. They will join tech leaders such as Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Uber. LeoVegas’ Warsaw facility will employ sixty developers. The investment in the central European country aims to accelerate the development of the next-generation platform.

The Polish engineers will work alongside the group’s existing teams based in Sweden, the UK, and the Netherlands. The main project of the Warsaw hub is the development of LeoVegas’ proprietary player account management (PAM) system. This system is called Rhino.

Rhino is used to control all player data, transactions, payment integrations, and games across LeoVegas’ extensive portfolio. It is understood that the new tech hub is a crucial element of the group’s strategy to maintain its position at the forefront of new technology and innovation.

Mattias Wedar, Chief Product & Tech Officer at LeoVegas Group, said,

“LeoVegas’ success, and the award-winning gaming experience that we give our customers, is driven by our innovative mindset and our proprietary platform Rhino. Our new hub in Warsaw is a key part of our strategy to stay at the forefront of innovation, new product development, and payments while offering a highly personalized experience to our customers. Our new hub will kickstart this next phase of development”.

The company is now on a recruitment drive to pick up the best talent in Warsaw. The irony is that the products that will be developed in Warsaw will continue to be unavailable to the staff based in Poland. Around a third of LeoVegas’ workforce is employed in technology and product development. MGM agreed to purchase LeoVegas earlier in the year to strengthen their European presence.

Related Topics:Europe iGaming leovegas Poland Polish Market Warsaw

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FAVBET partners with BETER Live in major boost to its live casino offering

Published

3 days ago

September 25, 2023

George Miller

FAVBET partners with BETER Live in major boost to its live casino offering

BETER Live’s suite of premium games is now available to all of FAVBET’s users in Ukraine, Croatia, and Romania

Ukraine’s leading iGaming operator FAVBET and BETER Live, the live casino division of the betting content and data provider BETER, has announced a long-term partnership to expand FAVBET’s live casino experience.

From now on, BETER Live will provide FAVBET with a portfolio of authentic and interactive live casino titles in markets across its 3 markets of operation. This includes more than 20+ games and variations covering Roulette, Blackjack, Gravity Blackjack, Gravity Roulette and Ukrainian Roulette.

Game presenters have been trained to the highest possible standards and also know how to provide an engaging player experience, chatting with players throughout their time at the table.

FAVBET has recently launched a UA Roulette table, powered by BETER Live, which has been tailored to meet the specific preferences of Ukrainian players. The new localised game has already found a response among players, showing a near 40% higher conversion rate and 4x more organic traffic compared to the provider’s regular roulette.

“Being a trailblazer in the Ukrainian online casino scene, FAVBET is constantly looking for new and exciting ways to engage our players while offering them the best possible experience. We are happy to have added BETER Live’s games to our portfolio and be able to provide a fully localised experience to our players and stand out from competition. We now look forward to working closely with BETER Live to continue to enhance our live casino offering and have many great products and updates in the pipeline,” commented FAVBET.

Anna Vikmane, Director of BETER Live, said: “We are delighted to share the news of another successful partnership between BETER Live and a leading operator, FAVBET. It is one of the most recognised brands in the Ukrainian market and one that players trust. Localisation is key to FAVBET’s success, and we have been able to work with the operator to ensure our content delivers a localised player experience. Shortly after we launched our first games and FAVBET could see they were a big hit with its customers, we rolled out Ukrainian Roulette — the operator’s first step towards a dedicated offering for the market.”

About FAVBET:

FAVBET is an international iGaming company founded in 1999 in Ukraine. Operating under international and regional licences in Ukraine, Croatia, Romania and Malta, it is currently offering top-notch sportsbook and online casino experience for more than 3 million registered users.

About BETER Live:

BETER Live is a B2B full cycle provider that delivers next-gen services of live casino games. BETER Live is the part of betting content and data provider BETER, whose product verticals cover fast sports, esports and live casino solutions.

Affiliate Announcements

Better Collective acquires Danish sports media Tipsbladet.dk

Published

1 week ago

September 19, 2023

George Miller

Better Collective acquires Danish sports media Tipsbladet.dk

Digital sports media group Better Collective strengthens its position in Denmark through the strategic acquisition of Tipsbladet.dk, one of the leading soccer media in the country producing prime content for Danish sports fans.

For 75 years Tipsbladet has been a trusted sports media in Denmark covering sports news from across the world. Over time, the media has developed from publishing a printed magazine to now developing and distributing prime soccer content across digital channels. From October 2nd 2023, Tipsbladet.dk becomes part of the digital sports media group, Better Collective, headquartered in Denmark. Better Collective acquires Tipsbladet.dk for 6.5 mEUR.

Jesper Søgaard, Co-founder & CEO of Better Collective, says: “I am very proud that we have acquired Tipsbladet that for 75 years has been a go-to sports media for many Danes that want to engage with prime soccer content. The acquisition fits perfectly with our vision to become the leading digital sports media group and our strategy to acquire strong media brands with a loyal audience. I look very much forward to welcoming the dedicated editorial team at Tipsbladet to the Better Collective group and I am convinced that together we can further elevate the content that for years has excited so many Danish sports fans. ”

Founded in 1948, Tipsbladet is the oldest soccer magazine across the Nordics. Since 2000, the digital edition, www.tipsbladet.dk has developed into one of the leading digital sources for soccer related content such as news, articles, match previews, betting tips, videos and analysis with a monthly audience of around 6.8 million visits and more than 110 thousand followers across Facebook, X/Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.

Henrik Stegger Nielsen, former owner of Tipsbladet, says: “Since 2007, when I acquired Tipsbladet, I have worked hard to make it a healthy and sustainable business. I have succeeded, and I could hardly imagine a better buyer for Tipsbladet than Better Collective. I know that they will both take good care of Tipsbladet and, with their ambitions and competencies, develop it even further,”

Henrik Stegger Nielsen joins Better Collective together with all current employees at Tipsbladet.

Allan Olsen, Editor in Chief at Tipsbladet, says: “For Tipsbladet and its employees, this is a fantastic event. Even though we have experienced lots of growth and great numbers on the bottom line in an otherwise pressured media world, there is no doubt that Better Collective can help push Tipsbladet’s growth even further. We will continue to deliver strong football stories, but with Better Collective behind us, we can really make the content live on many more platforms and reach a wider audience.”

Highlighted synergies

Acquiring leading national sports media with a strong brand is an important pillar in Better Collective’s global strategy. Acquiring Tipsbladet.dk enables the Group to increase its presence in Denmark to further leverage its position as a key partner for advertisers in the market.
The editorial team at Tipsbladet creates a strong foundation to grow media products on all relevant platforms.
Better Collective will leverage its leading tech and search engine optimization (SEO) expertise in order to grow the audience.
Better Collective will invest in the development and growth of Tipsbladet.dk.

Esben Skou Vinther, VP of Europe at Better Collective, says: ”As a trusted sports media, Tipsbladet and its employees have built a unique position in the Danish sports market and is a media that will supplement our Danish media portfolio in a great way. We intend to invest in the development of Tipsbladet.dk to further strengthen the content across digital channels. In doing so, Tipsbladet will become an even more attractive advertisement partner for businesses that aim to activate their brand in a relevant and engaging sports context”.

Transaction details
The total purchase price will be 6.5 mEUR on a cash and debt free basis paid in three installments and will be financed with cash. Better Collective estimates that the post synergy 2024 EBITDA multiple will be below 5x. The 2023 financial targets remain unchanged following the acquisition.

Affiliate Announcements

Super Affiliate, betting.bet, Celebrates Brand-defining Re-launch

Published

2 months ago

July 28, 2023

George Miller

Online super affiliate betting.bet has enhanced its flagship brand by unveiling an improved design complemented by new functionalities.

The new website, created by the brand’s proprietors Kontempry Ltd, will aid the brand’s global expansion efforts as it moves from being a UK-centric brand to a “truly global” business.

The design was unveiled last week as part of the company’s re-launch event. Users can now utilise betting.bet to search for the most recent offers from licenced operators worldwide, including brands in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and so on. This has been made possible through the procurement of gambling licences in multiple jurisdictions and the formation of numerous strategic affiliate alliances.

With live odds feeds, bet calculators, a vast selection of offers, and support functions, betting.bet is now a resource that all punters can utilise. What’s more, betting.bet has forged working relationships with some of the world’s most recognisable brands, resulting in enhanced offers for platform users.

Steve Jones, a spokesperson for the brand, comments:

“We are pleased to offer our consumers a more dynamic service with significant enhancements to offer management, usability, brand diversity, and service reviews. Inevitably, this will enable our users to make more informed decisions when signing up with our esteemed partners. This new design also honours the numerous high-profile sponsorship agreements we’ve signed recently.

I would like to thank the team for their extraordinary commitment to the release of the most recent version of betting.bet. This will enable us to engage with new partners and exponentially expand our player offerings.”

Abigail Moses, the Head of Marketing for betting.bet and the broader Kontempry Ltd. group, explains:

“We are thrilled to introduce the all-new betting.bet to our rapidly expanding community of users and partners. As the brand transitioned from a UK-facing utility to a global comparison portal, a more global-focused design became necessary. It is always challenging to design and market a product that will resonate with audiences in multiple locations. The new version of our website precisely reflects who we are as a disruptive growth company, supporting our global expansion and bolstering our European presence.”