This year the iGaming NEXT team will “Disrupt the Status Quo”!
Scheduled to take place at the picturesque location of the Mediterranean Conference Centre where some of the biggest brands and influencers will descend in Valletta on the 20th and 21st of October 2021.
Surrounded by bastions, numerous historical buildings and rainbow gardens, iGaming NEXT will allow you to experience Malta’s unique history and culture throughout two days of insightful and informative content.
Networking will play an even more important role than ever before as the industry convenes post-pandemic to build relationships and form new friendships. All this can be done at our amazing rooftop views across the Grand Harbour.
Get ready to connect, explore and experience at iGaming NEXT Valletta ‘21.
Don’t Miss a Thing! Check agendas for 20-21 October.
Join us for networking drinks and collect your badge to beat the registration queue at iGaming NEXT Valletta Wednesday morning.
When: Tuesday 19th October 17.00 – 21.00 CEST
Where: The Phoenicia Malta
Pre-Registration Networking Drinks are sponsored by EveryMatrix.
As 2021 comes to a near close, and the industry begins to shift its’ gaze towards 2022 will we see greater prudent focus on individual iGaming companies, their cultures and business models or will the market continue to follow market trends. We take a frank look at the numbers and expected winners and losers in 2022.
As the online sector has reversed the pandemic trend and continued to grow, outstripping industry predictions, regulations have followed suit but at a more un-unified offering. With the liberalisation of the US market on the up and the more established markets, such as, EU showing greater restriction how can the industry operate in such a labyrinth of regulations.
In its quest for change Apple re-thought and re-imagined the end user experience. We discuss with game leaders what needs to be done to engage the attention of the NEXT Generation? What and why does it matter? Do we really need to reinvent the wheel and what is wrong with the traditional games?
Learn how your company culture can help you exceed your financial targets. Let Sandra inspire you of the importance of diversity and inclusion, and how to work with it proactively and not just as fancy paper products. She will cover studies and give your hands-on tools you can implement to really make a difference.
It was once a niche part of the investment industry, but with ESG funds expected to outweigh traditional funds by 2025 and the new focus on sustainability the industry is seeing a symbolic shift in what investors are demanding. How can the iGaming industry succeed down this path and what factors do we need to consider to be more in touch with our consumers, more sustainable, and provide more appealing investment opportunities?
Six years ago, Fast Track had a dream that it is now able to deliver on. At iGaming NEXT, Simon will introduce Fast Track’s next game-changing product; one that overcomes technological barriers that have held iGaming businesses back for years. This reveal starts the countdown towards the industry’s first self-learning platform. Are you ready?
Germany turnover tax decision shook many heads in our industry and had a grave impact on casino catalogue selection. With industry focus weighing heavily on RTP as a gauge on valued player experience, True Lab Game Studios go into the psychology of the player, dynamic of the game and question if the content built with player in mind, has been built at the cost of revenue for the operator – and whether great content can satisfy needs and experience of both.
In these crazy times, how can you keep players entertained? How do you keep their attention span? Gamification, streaming, innovation is all part of the mix to driving engagement among slots players.
With companies constantly looking for aggressive expansion and consolidation and the rapid growth in demand across the United States in the last five years, mergers and acquisitions have come thick and fast. As we see brands taking over promising new players and the big brands themselves getting involved with each other what next for the US?
With the immediate dislocation of company culture – supply chains – client behaviour and business performance we have seen even the most experienced CEOs shift, expedite, and evolve into a new role. But what is it that you really want to know of a CEO and their role?
We want you – the attendees – to shape this session and ask direct, challenging and quirky questions which will help shape the session and its’ direction.
Roof Terrace, Mediterranean Conference Centre
iSoftBet guest speaker, Marc Priestley, former Formula One race mechanic, pit-stop crew member and in-team management at one of motorsport’s most successful organisations, McLaren Racing, gives exclusive insights into his extensive experience of high-performance engineering and highlights the importance of customisation and constant product optimisation to sustain leading market share and a reputation as the ‘best in the game’
Consumers today demand constant innovation, and customisation lies at the heart of iGaming’s future success. This session explores why customisable solutions that put players first are the gateway to creating differentiation and endless opportunities within an increasingly competitive landscape.
From the infamous Phil Ivey Baccarat edge-sorting case to extreme Crazy Time pay-outs; big wins are often the main indicator to evaluate success, skill level or whether a game is flawed. This and other misconceptions are based on common industry myths that make you focus on all the wrong things. In this presentation, Tania confronts the biggest gaming industry perceptions and uncovers truth about how the odds can really be beaten, both in the game and in life
With integrity and reputation taking a more central role we look at the role of the affiliate and ask what role does the future hold? With winnings sometimes not honoured and incentives and pressure tactics on problem gamblers are they bad for business or can affiliates help ensure a safe and sustainable market?
Screening over 15,000 advertising messages per week takes its’ toll on even the savviest customer. How do you attract the attention in the new social world and above all convert them to loyal customers? Is it all about diversification or just designing the sexiest advert and the rest will follow?
A thought leads to an action and the sum of all actions in an organization is the receipt of success or failure. Learning how to control your thoughts is the definition of self-leadership. But there are many variants of self-leadership. This keynote will give many of the participants an insight they didn’t know they could get accompanied with tools they never knew existed.
The ever challenging and demanding Gen Z are experiencing fast seamless and easy experiences with their retail counterparts. With several options available to them how is the industry pushing the boundaries; providing a competitive edge and mitigating the AML risks to ensure and equally smooth journey?
The Online Casino industry has gone through waves of innovation over the past decade. HappyHour.io believes the next wave of innovation has developed a potentially disruptive product that unites Operators, Suppliers and Creators alike: LiveSpins ™️. Sit back and experience the presentation showcased for the first time at iGaming NEXT.
Historically we have seen the industry look to compete and gain the competitive edge on gambling and its’ related products. But is “gambling” now becoming secondary to the consumer and should we now focus on the experience and community engagement to truly have trust in the brand and customer loyalty?
With an option to provide greater protection for operators and players alike this session will explore how blockchain, in an environment of escalating compliance requirements and ever more aggressive regulators intent on ever tighter restrictions, can provide a higher degree of protection to operators and what impact it will have on the traditional audit and assurance process in iGaming.
Crypto is gaining popularity day by day. NFTs are seeing prices soar to exponential levels and it is only a matter of time before we all start using blockchain in everyday life. But are we really close to seeing this all become reality and what can we expect to see in the next 18mths?
Our industry is moving at a faster pace than ever before. But regulation is often considered a hinderance to pace. Why then do we have it and could it mean the end of an innovative industry? Will the many multi-layered complex laws make iGaming less attractive to investment or is regulation a necessity to provide players with access to more and better gaming platforms?
Aside from the Premier League, for most sports betting operators, the recently aired Euros was the biggest betting event of the year. A whole month packed with topflight international matches to keep the punters buzzing and engaged. But what happens when the football’s over?
The opportunity to create an evergreen calendar of top tier sports events is bigger than ever. Operators no longer have to rely on seasonal peaks to make it through the year. Esports tournaments provide a unique opportunity to spread the risk and maintain a steady rate of betting activity at any given point across a calendar year.
Roof Terrace, Mediterranean Conference Centre
Originally spawning from an iGaming career that started at the age of 17 during the early days of the online poker boom, Pierre Co-founded the event management company Ambassadör Events in 2013. The company specialises in B2B & B2C event concepts targeting the gaming sector with more than 600 successful projects behind them for most of the major organisations within the industry. In 2016, Pierre Co-Founded the primary award show of the gaming industry, iGaming IDOL followed by the content driven conference, iGaming NEXT in 2018.
Oisin Lunny is an award-winning marketer, webinar and podcast host, MC, public speaker, virtual event consultant and journalist. His work has been read over half a million times as a senior contributor to Forbes, The Guardian and others. Oisin has spoken at over 250 conferences in every corner of the world, including TEDx and six times at SXSW, and he has worked in a series of leading global technology firms over the past 20 years.
Todd Haushalter has one of the most expansive resumes in the gaming industry. He is currently the Chief Product Officer at Evolution Gaming, the biggest live dealer online casino in the world with over 9,000 employees. He is the inventor of many of the biggest casino games in the world including Crazy Time, Lightning Roulette, Monopoly Live, Mega Ball, Deal or No Deal Live, Infinite Blackjack, Instant Roulette, and numerous other industry-shaping games. He has also lived in Macau and Las Vegas and has held senior leadership positions in the operations, supplier, and internet sectors of the gaming industry, working directly with over 300 casinos across 45 countries on five continents and over 200 online casinos. Prior to his current role, Todd was Corporate Vice President of Gaming Operations for MGM Resorts International, responsible for all slots and table games at 15 properties globally. He also held roles at Shuffle Master as Vice President of Business Strategy, Director of Product Development, and Product Director – Asia. In addition, Todd spent almost five years at Wynn Resorts where he was focused on identifying and implementing new ways to increase casino profitability.
Originally working in investment banking in London, Andrew Bonnici moved into the gaming world and has been working in the sector for the past 8 years. Heading the Data Science and Business intelligence division at Betsson Group, he was tasked to build out their Big Data platform and associated AI & Analytics Data Product portfolio, focusing on player analytics and engagement.
Bonnici joined iSoftBet in 2018 to spearhead the Data initiative, and having built a highly agile Data team, he successfully delivered an advanced cloud-based Data Platform that powers iSoftBet’s business analytical capabilities. In Q1 2020, Andrew was named Chief Product Officer, a role in which he is now tasked to deliver on the company’s vision to create amazing gaming experiences by developing and building out the games and platform product portfolio.
Marc Priestley is a well known motivational speaker who shares his experiences and knowledge working within a pitstop crew and management team at one of the sport’s most successful organisations, McLaren Racing, for almost a decade.
Priestly offers unique lessons in areas such as rapid productivity, marginal gains, image portrayal and data analysis. Having been an integral part of these processes for so long he has seen first hand how they impact a company, there aren’t many people more perfectly placed, or better educated in the field, to impart these lessons
Priestly has worked with a number of World Champions including Mika Hakkinen, Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen, Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton.
Follow Marc on Twitter: @f1elvi
Director of Game Integrity & Risk at Evolution, Tania heads up Evolution’s Game Integrity and Risk operations across multiple remote studios, products and on-premise land-based live studios. Tania has been a driver for and in charge of designing various analytical security tools and is listed as an inventor of several international patents. As a multiple award-winning iGaming executive with 14 years of experience leading and reframing multicultural organizations, Tania has also been in charge of Evolution’s North America Operations of +1000 employees, launching two additional Studios in Philadelphia and Detroit during the challenging times of the pandemic.
James King is the CEO of Flows, an integration platform that empowers your entire organisation to connect apps, innovate and drive digital automation, without code.
With over 10 year’s experience in the iGaming space, King joined industry entrepreneur Robin Reed to launch Flows earlier this year after previously serving as the director of sales at leading industry tech and media powerhouse Gaming Innovation Group. Flows will make innovation accessible to everyone, by delivering API-led agnostic connectivity that liberates resources, delivers freedom of choice and which allows its partners to build and to move quickly.
Robin Eirik Reed Co-founded GiG 10 years ago and successfully grew the company to €150m revenue. In 2019, Robin became an inductee in the iGaming IDOL Hall of Fame. Robin is the CEO of HappyHour.io, a company that seeks to connect online gaming through social technology and is an investor and chairman in a number of companies.
Simon is a specialist in technology, product development, innovation and organisational scalability, with over 15 years of experience in iGaming. Having held senior positions at Betfair and within the Betsson Group, he co-founded Fast Track in 2016 as a direct response to the challenges that operators face in running an efficient, scalable business. He is now on a mission to digitalise the iGaming industry.
With nearly a decade of experience across various gaming technology companies, Edo joined Playtech as the CEO of Euro Live Technologies in 2016 at a transformational time for the live entertainment product. During the last 5 years, Edo has been driving innovation and pioneering the technological changes along side the physical studios expansion to new territories within the Live Casino vertical.
Edo’s vision for Playtech Live is to deliver the best possible entertainment-led experience to leading operators across the world. It is clear from the continued growth and variety of games offered across an ever increasing number of studios worldwide that under Edo’s management, Playtech Live has cemented itself as a global leader of next level entertainment live products and services.
Martin Lycka is SVP for American Regulatory Affairs and Responsible Gambling at Entain, overseeing growth of the business across both new U.S. states and into other parts of the Americas, notably LATAM and Canada. He joined the business in April 2018, as Director of Regulatory Affairs.
Martin also serves on the boards of the Entain Foundation, the Entain Foundation US, the German Online Casino Association and the Advisory Boards to the National Council on Problem Gambling as well as RG247, a responsible gaming training provider. In the past, Martin has been a board member of the European Gaming and Betting Association, JDigital and the European Sports Security Association. In total, Martin has been a senior legal, regulatory and RG advisor to listed gambling businesses for over 11 years.
Previously, Martin worked amongst others with Salans Europe LLP, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic and the Senate of the Czech Republic.
He obtained law degrees from the Charles University, Prague, the College of Europe, Bruges, and the University of Law, London, qualifying as UK solicitor.
Martin is a regular conference speaker and has (co-)authored more than 80 academic articles and three books on gambling law and other legal matters. He is the 2019 Global Regulatory Awards Head of Regulatory Affairs of the Year as well as a member of the2020/2021 Emerging Gambling Leaders 40 Under 40 Class (a Judge’s Choice).
Jean Claude Attard is a Maltese national who joined Identity Malta agency 7 years ago, he was engaged by IMA after he graduated from University of Malta. Currently he is a Manager at the Central Visa Unit.
Oskar Fröberg is the CEO and Founder of Abios, an industry-leading esports data and technology provider. The Stockholm-based company was founded in 2013 and has grown its esports data and technology offering to serve customers all over the globe. With over 8 years of experience within esports, data, and iGaming, Oskar is overseeing the daily activities and operations of Abios. He has expanded the company from a small startup to a global company and is looking to support the growth of the esports industry for many years to come.
Aaron Lowe is the Head of Gaming at William Hill International based in Malta and responsible for all gaming products in seven regulated markets including MGA on a range of brands such as William Hill, Mr Green, and Evoke.
Prior to joining the gaming industry, Aaron came from a digital agency background and worked with a range of blue chip clients from sports, automotive, and entertainment before joining Russian operator, Marathon Bet in 2012. In 2015 he was off to GVC for a crash course in M&As and rapid platform migrations before leaving in 2018 to head up Gaming Operations at Jackpot Joy Group in Malta until the completion of their M&A with Gamesys in 2020. Aaron joined William Hill International in August 2020 just in time for another M&A session!
Steve is CEO and Co-founder of Kalamba games. Coming from a development background, he was Head of Poker Development at Kindred and later COO at GameDesire before co-founding Kalamba. Steve’s key interests are how to build a great user experience, strategy development, and how to bring the best of real money and social gaming together.
Proficient Head of Casino with key experience working within the iGaming industry. Adept in operational efficiency, marketing lifecycle, product analysis/development, roadmap/execution & team management within Casino sector.
Paul is the CEO of Crucial Compliance and Non-Executive Director of the Gibraltar Betting and Gaming Association. Previous to Crucial Compliance he held Senior Roles at GVC, Ladbrokes Coral, bwin.party and Partygaming. Crucial Compliance specialises in innovative technological solutions to drive Compliance and Player protection to protect Companies from the ever-changing International Regulatory Landscape.
Ed Dickerson is the co-founder of the notorious Lovelace Consultancy. With a mountain of knowledge pertaining to the world of bonus abuse, Ed and the Lovelace team have earned the reputation of being the first port of call for operators to reach out to. Finding solutions to long-standing problems, empowering operational teams with the power of knowledge, and creating technical solutions like no-one else, Ed is truly a force to be reckoned with.
He has spent the best part of the last decade learning everything there is to know about casinos, sportsbooks, bonuses, operational systems, and the wider world of industry-focused fraud. And for the last 2 years he has been finding ingenious ways of applying this knowledge to the industry, from redesigning promotions and bonus engines, to harnessing the power of data to justify meaningful change.
Ross Parkhill is the Managing Director of Rhino Entertainment. Starting his career as an engineer he found his way to iGaming through playing professional poker. Ross started as an analyst with Tipco, before moving to GiG, where he successfully launched and managed several new and established casino and sportbook brands. He has held leadership roles working across both the B2C and B2B side of the business.
An energetic entrepreneur from Sweden with a great passion for business, esports, and music.
Daniel has a long history within the media industry with roles such as Head Of Sales, Head of Business, and Head of Creative Studios. Daniel has since 2018 been the CEO of Fragbite, the leading esports media group in the Nordics. Fragbite is one of the few companies awarded for their expertise in creating value for the hard-to-reach target group: gamers. Fragbite was earlier this year acquired by Fragbite Group (previously FunRock) and listed on Nasdaq First North Stockholm in June, Daniel is also VP Esports for the group and a Board Member of the Swedish IAB Esports TaskForce.
Nick is a seasoned iGaming professional that has been in the sector for over 20 years. Having held positions as Head of eBusiness in UK and Ireland at Cable & Wireless Plc., COO at Interactive Gaming Holdings Plc (IGH), and Chief Commercial Officer at EveryMatrix, a B2B iGaming software provider, has allowed Nick to be involved in several projects and gain singular insight into both detailed matters and the big-picture perspective.
Nick is the founder of the gaming consultancy Premier Chain, which focuses on introducing the benefits of blockchain technology to enhance various aspects of the industry, including supply chain management (SCM), responsible gaming, anti-money laundering (AML), and know your customer (KYC) guidelines. Such consultancy services have also led him to explore other new and innovative technologies and verticals, including events, processing, tokenisation. He uses his experience to learn how new technologies can benefit the iGaming sector overall. As a subject-matter expert for nChain, Nick has been instrumental in identifying the specific issues of the iGaming industry that can be solved using blockchain technologies. Most recently, Nick joined nChain as Sales Director.
Andrew’s career spans over 18 years involvement in gaming, focused on regulatory, social responsibility and compliance matters. He has held senior positions across a number of gaming companies and verticals, both land-based and online. Andrew joined SG Digital in June 2021 to lead the development of product compliance and licensing strategy across all jurisdictions outside of North America.
Dominic Le Garsmeur is the VP Product at SG Digital. He looks after the product strategy and management for SG Digital’s gaming platform including OGS, their gaming aggregation platform, and their OPS player account. SG Digital are leading providers of gaming services into regulated markets worldwide.
Michael Daly is the CEO for Catena Media, one of the largest lead generation companies for iGaming, Sports Betting, eSports and financial services worldwide. As such he oversees the company’s 400+ team and its global expansion across Europe, LATAM, APAC, and North America, where it is the dominant affiliate by value delivered to operators.
Prior to taking the reigns as CEO in March of 2021, Michael was the VP of North America for Catena Media, growing that business to over 50 affiliate sites, generating in the range of $40,000,000+ annually with a team of approximately 60, all working remotely.
Prior to Catena Media, Michael setup and ran divisions of online gambling technology companies, has rolled out numerous new products for banking and gaming, as well as served 8 years as a Naval Officer. He is a graduate of MIT and holds an MBA from the University of Utah.
Lloyd Purser is the Chief Operating Officer for FunFair Technologies. He has been in igaming for over 15 years, holding senior roles at Scientific Games, Bally Technologies Inc, and Rank Interactive.
In the past three years Lloyd has been focused on igaming and blockchain, through FunFair’s legacy decentralised casino platform, the FunFair wallet, FunFair Labs an R&D studio as well as FunFair Games a new and innovative multiplayer casino game studio
Michael Caselli is a 20+ year iGaming industry veteran and considered one of the world’s leading experts on online gaming. He is a sought-after expert who hosts, chairs, and speaks at international iGaming conferences and has provided insight to international news broadcasts including CNBC, MSNBC and the BBC.
In 1998 Michael launched the world’s first daily news website for online casino players. He launched several print magazines in the sector including consumer titles including, Gambling Online Magazine, Gambling.com Magazine and Bluff Magazine. He simultaneously launched the trade magazine iGaming Business and its associated affiliate and regional titles. Michael served as the editor of several of his magazines.
Michael’s publishing businesses grew to include trade and consumer conferences and exhibitions including iGaming Affiliate and iGaming LIVE! In 2015 Michael sold his trade publishing and conferencing businesses to Clarion Events.
Today Michael serves as Chairman of Clarion Gaming, is a director of iGaming Business, is a sector investor and is an advisor for companies in the iGaming space.
Michael holds an MBA and it’s thesis was the first academic work concentrating on iGaming. He has been honored by his peers throughout his career for his publications, expertise and contributions. He has been honored as a Leader in Gaming by the Global Gaming Expo, and has been given a lifetime achievement award for Outstanding Contribution to the Industry by Sigma.
Alastair Graham is the Co-Chair of the Age Verification Providers Association and sits on the Digital Policy Alliance Age Verification and Internet Safety Working Group. Alastair has been closely involved with the development of age verification legislation and standards nationally within the UK and internationally through the ISO.
He is the Founder and CEO of AgeChecked, the online responsible gambling solutions provider. Alastair has twenty years’ experience running RegTech businesses, providing solutions into regulated markets.
Simon Hammon, CPO of Relax Gaming since 2018, has been instrumental to the success of the company’s aggregation services and proprietary content portfolio. Under his leadership, Relax’s casino proposition has cemented a strong reputation for driving studio and partner growth, delivering unmatched speed to market along with rapid, simple integration.
For two years Hideous Slots has been making waves on Social Media with featured Slot Machine content, taking a personal approach to Casino and Slot promotion by showing real money play. As we continue to expand and look to new markets, we are working with more brands and continuing to offer unique marketing strategies, whilst navigating the ever-changing landscape of social promotion.
Richard Carter is CEO of Bragg Gaming Group, and previously held the position of chair of the board of directors of Bragg from October 2020 – April 2021. Prior to joining Bragg, Richard spent several years as a gaming industry analyst at Deutsche Bank, before taking on the role of CEO at SB Tech, leading the company for five years and through its merger with DraftKings in April 2020.
CEO of Yolo Group Maarja Pärt is CEO of Yolo Group and a member of the board at venture capital firm Yolo Investments. Pärt has been an integral part of the Yolo Group’s remarkable growth story, having previously served as the company’s CFO and COO. She now oversees a team of more than 600 members, and a diverse portfolio of brands and products which span B2C and B2B gaming, including Yolo Entertainment that houses Sportsbet.io and Bitcasino. Having strategically supervised Yolo Group’s growth from an operation of six people to a globally recognised leader in crypto entertainment, Pärt is now focused on the next part of Yolo’s journey – to the moon.
Roman German is CPO of Yolo Group and has been an integral part of the business for more than four years, having previously led the product and development team that built bitcasino.io – the first ever licensed Bitcoin casino.
He oversees a portfolio that consists of more than 50 internally developed products and brands – working actively on the groups strategy to always deliver the best possible experience for our customers.
Previously he has managed joint projects with companies like Google, Spotify and Paypal among many others. Starting from 2012 he has had an active interest in the crypto community where he is a keen speaker and educator.
Amy Casson-Hughes, Founding Director of Eyas Gaming, developer turned Customer Experience and Product Management specialist, has over 17 years’ experience leading and scaling global digital teams for tech and gaming giants.
After more than 6 years working for Gala Coral Interactive, Betfred and GentingBet, Victoria saw first-hand the devastation caused by gambling addiction and decided she had to act. As a recent alumna of Harvard Business School, she teamed up with her fellow classmate and together, they started, Better Change. By challenging the status quo and truly partnering with operators to help them raise standards through improved compliance, innovative social responsibility strategies and robust safer gambling tools designed to maximise player protection, she is determined to sustain the industry and deliver clear, sustainable and progressive results for their partners and their players.
Cíara joined Betsson in 2019 as the Product Director for Games of Chance before being recently promoted to Commercial Director – Gaming for the Group where she is responsible for delivering a vision and strategy for the Gaming Business and optimising key activity areas like customer experience, content and product. Previously, she was Head of Gaming and later Interim Director of Gaming at William Hill in Gibraltar after stints in similar roles in the Rank Group and Paddy Power Betfair. She has a wealth of experience in B2C operations across Tier 1 Operators, and her strength lies in bringing customer feedback, data and product capability together to deliver a great on site experience.
With 2 decades of experience in digital markets, Martin has a passion and drive to help organizations flourish. Through both internal and external strategic analysis, he can drive positive improvement in performance, as well as help identify new business opportunities. Always remaining one step ahead, Martin empowers organizations to truly perform and drive revenue and growth.
Claudio Caruana has been active in the gaming industry for over ten years, starting his career in a full-service law firm specialising in gambling regulation, privacy, and corporate law. Throughout his career, he has been involved in and led the legal process of several M&A transactions spanning various industries. Claudio has been representing GiG since 2013, and in 2017 joined the company to lead and expand the legal, compliance and regulatory affairs department in the face of an ever-evolving risk environment. He holds a doctorate in law from the University of Malta and a masters’ degree in Internet, Telecommunications Law and Policy from the University of Strathclyde.
Andy is the Founder of Rokker and The Rokker Network, an ecosystem of wholly owned, design-led professional service businesses. Specialising in iGaming and Financial Services, The Rokker Network is made up of Rokker, a Design-led Management Consultancy, Pretty Technical, which provides curated iGaming Software, Operations and Consulting, Skull Mountain, experts in Digital Product Management and Random Colour Animal, our agency business, specialising in Creative, Brand, Design Execution and Digital all who work with a wide range of Global gaming clients, operating in almost every major jurisdiction.
Flavien Guillocheau is the Founder and CEO of PandaScore, the world’s AI-powered hub of esports data, whose odds feed is the main product serving the esports betting industry.
Built from a small group’s passion for esports, Jonathan and Flavien created PandaScore in 2016 with the goal to help esports’ growth through data.
Now numbering over 60 people, PandaScore has a distribution partnership with Scientific Games and serves clients including Entain Australia which runs the Ladbrokes and Neds brands, Betcris, LOOT.BET and Pixel.bet.
Sandra is the Chief People Officer at Quickspin, by being curious and caring, she is integrated in all parts of the organization enabling being very pro-active, supportive, and innovative in finding new ways.
Sandra is part of the management team where she pushes strategic work forward, she has a drive for finding better ways of doing things – and she is not afraid to fight for what she believes in. In little over three years, Sandra has changed how we view and work with everything from company culture and corporate values, feedback culture & communication, leadership, personal career development, mentorship and age-, gender- and ethnic diversity.
Daniel Graetzer is the Founder and CEO of Carousel Group, the owner and operator of SportsBetting.com, a US and European regulated online sportsbook and casino. With over 20 years of experience in digital, Graetzer created Carousel Group in 2017 after previously serving as director at leading Spanish provider Mediatech Solutions (acquired by R. Franco Group in 2017). Carousel Group is operational in Colorado and recently signed a market access deal for New Jersey, Indiana, and Iowa.
Per is an industry veteran with extensive corporate experience, most recently he served as the CEO of the NasdaqOMX-listed affiliate powerhouse Catena Media.
Former CEO and Chairman of Readly, Per joined the business in the start-up phase and prepared it to be listed on NasdaqOMX.
Per also had an exponential impact on the business growth at Nordic Gaming Group (NordicBet) as CEO, positioning it to be acquired by the Betsson Group in 2012.
Per has extensive experience in working with and within European, American and Asian countries.
David Mann is Chief Commercial Officer at Swintt, the rapidly-growing supplier offering slots, live dealer, land-based content and specialist games powered by gamification. David has worked in the industry since 2008 in a number of roles and brings a wealth of knowledge across multiple verticals and markets.
— THE YES, MORE THAN NO MAN —
Born in south of Sweden back in the early ’80s, He came from a loving family, with two siblings and with a caring father and loving mother. Everything that he is today he learnt from his parents and his mentors. His goal in life is now to give that knowledge to the rest of the planet.
Life for Alex has not been easy even if it may seem to be that on the outside, he has struggled with dark demons on the inside through his childhood, and even when he became an adult. The stories are many and the takeaway will optimize your life if you choose to accept the honest truth. Everything started with one YES, and if Alex can do it, so can YOU.
Communication is the key to all success in the world, be a part of the movement!
Scott Longley has been a journalist since the early noughties covering personal finance, sport and the gambling industry. He has worked for a number of publications and now writes for online and print titles including Wagers.com for which he also co-writes the Wagers.com Earnings+More newsletter.
Kelly has 14+ years’ international experience in the financial services, within Capital Markets in both London and New York. Kelly recently joined Edison Group from the London Stock Exchange to lead their ESG business. With sustainability leading the direction of the financial markets, Kelly is committed to supporting companies as they develop their business to a more sustainable future.
Julian is co-founder of RB Capital. He is an investor & board director to multiple ventures in the gaming, fintech & music industries. He has managed investments, M&As and exits to date in excess of $500m.
Jade is the Managing Director of Amber Gaming and is responsible for the strategic development, growth, and performance of the business.
Her experience includes advising clients on the complex multi-jurisdictional regulatory landscape, including corporate structuring, licencing applications, and relocation assignments. She is immersed in the gaming industry and has worked across a breadth of Amber Gaming’s product and service sectors, playing a key role in its internationalisation, rebrand and commercial development.
Jade holds a Bachelor of Laws degree issued by the University of South Africa and a Diploma in International Marketing Management.
Tim Heath draws upon two decades of experience within the igaming and emerging technologies sectors as GP of Yolo Investments. An early adopter of Bitcoin in 2013, he was founder and CEO of the Yolo Group (formerly the Coingaming Group) until 2020. The Group operates leading crypto gaming brands Bitcasino and Sportsbet.io, with the latter securing high-profile sponsorships with Premier League clubs Arsenal and Southampton.
Tim specialises in transforming ideas into successful business. Since founding Yolo Investments, the venture capital firm has rapidly grown. It now holds assets in more than 50 businesses, with an AUM in excess of €350 million.
A strong believer in the power of crypto to improve the lives of people around the world, he is now increasingly focused on the fintech and blockchain spaces, and where emerging technology can disrupt the traditional banking industry.
Igor Samardziski recently became chief executive officer of True Lab. With almost two decades of experience in the online gambling industry, Igor has held senior strategic roles in multiple Tier-One companies in the casino operations space. In 2011, Igor became a co-founder of Max Entertainment, and has conceptualised, developed and delivered to market three Player Account Management platforms. Igor also held advisory roles in several notable players in the industry, before becoming CEO at True Lab.
CCO at Push Gaming, with an integral role in establishing the company’s business development planning and strategy, Nicola Longmuir spearheads the company’s strategic goals for marketing, product and sales, as well as cultivating existing relationships with its growing global operator portfolio.
Nicola has gained over 15 years of experience in senior positions at some of the industry’s largest and best-known brands, including Head of Sky Vegas at Sky Betting and Gaming, GVC Group, Paddy Power Betfair and most recently, Commercial Director at Gaming Realms.
With the knowledge and skill to further drive the company forward, Nicola is instrumental in ensuring Push Gaming provides the very best in innovative entertainment for players.
Liesbeth Oost is the Sustainability Manager at Aspire Global, the leading B2B-provider of iGaming solutions. She focuses on the sustainability strategy, at the heart of which is responsible gambling. Liesbeth has a Master’s degree in International Political Economy from the University of Groningen, and is a Certified Investor Relations professional (CIR®). Before her career in online gaming she worked at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Rhi has been working in the igaming industry for 15 years, 11 of those in Malta. Focused on B2B suppliers, sales and account management, Rhi is now driving Zimpler through hyper growth internationally and vertically.
David Flynn is a Senior Executive with more than 17 years of management experience in the global iGaming industry. His career to date has seen him hold top level positions at some of the sector’s power players, including Vice-President at Ongame (2003-2006), which was subsequently sold to Bwin for €475m, Head of Operations at Microgaming (2006-2009) and CEO of NYX Interactive (2010-2012). NYX Interactive then merged with Nextgen Gaming to become NYX Gaming Group where he then held the role of CCO (2012-2017) until the business was acquired by Scientific Games for €520m.
In his most recent role, he was CEO of Vera&John, a division of JPJ Group plc. (2017-2019). Mr. Flynn is currently CEO of rapidly expanding iGaming business, Glitnor Group, which also incorporates B2B provider Swintt.
Jesper Svensson has been in the gaming industry since the mid-2000s. Over the years he worked in senior positions in several gaming companies in Europe and Asia.
He joined Betsson in 2013 as the managing director of its flagship brand, betsson.com. In 2015 he became Betsson’s Chief Commercial Officer and was then made acting CEO in September 2017. Just three months later, he was appointed as CEO for Betsson Operations.
Jesper holds a Master in International Business from EAE Business School (Barcelona) and a Bachelor in Marketing from BI Norwegian Business School (Oslo). Jesper is passionate about sports and gaming.
Mikael Hansson is the Founder and CEO of Enteractive, the leading player reactivation company driving revenues for iGaming brands across the world. He graduated from LIU, Sweden, with a Masters of Science in Industrial Engineering and Management, and previously held the position of CFO for a large Swedish company. He has been living in Malta since 2009, when he set up the Enteractive brand to support player retention and reactivation for the growing iGaming sector. Leading Enteractive’s unique ability to connect with players directly on a one-to-one level, Mikael is passionate about increasing the level of personalisation between iGaming brands and their players. As a champion for sustainability and longevity in the sector, he is instrumental in promoting growth and player retention alongside responsible gambling measures for players.
Fiona Hickey has over 10 years in the iGaming space, starting her career in the industry with leading headhunting firm, Bettingjobs before joining slots provider Push Gaming to head up Sales and New Business. Having partnered with the largest and most influential companies in the industry as well as start-ups and service providers, she has gained extensive Commercial knowledge that sees her well placed to drive business growth.
Lahcene Merzoug, is the CEO of PressEnter Group and is primarily responsible for spearheading the company’s aggressive growth strategy whilst also overseeing the company’s flagship brands’ expansion into new markets. Prior to his role as CEO of PressEnter Group, Merzoug spent two years as the CEO of ComeOn Group and was Chief Marketing Officer at Green Media, Mr Green’s internal media agency. He has also held senior roles at Evoke Gaming, Bonnier Gaming, and Red Bet, bringing a wealth of expertise and experience to PressEnter Group (formerly known as Betpoint Group).
Tobias Svensen is the CEO of CasinoGrounds – The largest streaming community with Casino at its core.
By understanding the potential of this effective way of building trust and promoting brands in 2015 he’s gained a unique understanding and experience in this area. Since then he has been speaking on the subject several times and has also been featured in industry magazines as the leading expert on Casino streaming
Founder and CEO of SharedPlay, new B2B venture providing technology for multiplayer real-money gaming.
Igaming Next podcast host featuring prominent industry guests.
Over 15 years of experience in gambling in global markets online and offline, including leadership roles for LeoVegas, Betsson and SG Digital as well as interim executive placements for tier 1s via her consultancy firm, Basic Strategy. Specialising in P&L management, product development and commercial strategy as well as start-up and M&A advisory. Author published in EGR and IGB magazines, voted IGB 2019 Top 10 Most Influential Women and featured by Facebook in their #shetalksgames video campaign. Vocal gender diversity ambassador and above all, passionate about the product.
Sarah Blackburn is Managing Director of GameOn, a PR agency that creates digital PR and marketing strategies on behalf of a wide variety of iGaming clients. Sarah has been working across the B2B and affiliate sectors for more than 15 years and has represented some of the biggest names in gaming.
Fiona Hickey has 10 years in the iGaming space, starting her career in the industry with leading headhunting firm, Bettingjobs before joining slots provider Push Gaming to head up Sales and New Business. Having partnered with the largest and most influential companies in the industry as well as start-ups and service providers, she has gained extensive Commercial knowledge that sees her well placed to drive business growth.
Shona is the Head of Strategic Events for the leading sports betting affiliate Better Collective. With over a decade of experience in the iGaming sector, much of that focussed on the affiliate market, Shona has been responsible for the creation and development of some of the industry’s biggest events, including iGB Live!, LAC, Sports Betting USA and ICE.
A passionate advocate of the events industry and its ability to bring people and businesses together to make meaningful value-based connections. The current pandemic has only confirmed the importance of human connections and the importance of face to face meetings.
In her spare time she can be found indulging her biggest love; food, eating it, writing about it, photographing it and planning what to eat next.
Julian is co-founder of RB Capital, a boutique investment and M&A advisory, as well as General Partner of Yolo Investments, the leading Venture Capital business in gaming and fintech funds. He is an investor & board director to multiple ventures in the gaming, fintech & music industries and has managed investments, M&As and company exits to date in excess of $650m.
At iGaming NEXT, the health and well-being of our guests and team have always been at the forefront of our decision making. As we embark to organise our October Valletta’ 21 event, we continue to monitor Government guidelines and we are preparing a Covid-19 Safe Event Plan to protect both our Guests and team.
More information around covid-19 rules and requirements will be posted closer to the event!
