The week in B2B news (6 October 2017)

Scout Gaming has appointed Johan Öhman as director of business excellence.

Johan Öhman has extensive experience from the gambling sector having served as CEO on NetEnt from 2006-2011 and will be joining the firm immediately.

“Scout is in a similar position as NetEnt back in early 2000, addressing a new and rapidly growing market with a market leading and innovative solution,” said Johan Öhman.

“The social drivers behind the game are easy to understand and the technological solution offers a smooth and easy integration for B2B customers.”

Scout Gaming Group’s CEO Andreas Ternström added: “Johan Öhman is a gambling veteran with great knowledge from building successful companies. In addition to his wide understanding of the gambling sector he will in particular bring his knowledge about business processes and strategic planning to Scout.”

Nektan has significantly enhanced its player management offering by partnering with Newlette.

Newlette uses machine learning algorithms and modelling to increase customer lifetime value, loyalty and entertainment.

The firm’s marketers and data scientists will complement Nektan’s existing CRM offering with a bespoke strategy that helps to ensure customer satisfaction and profitability across Nektan’s white label network.

Gary Shaw, CEO of Nektan, said: “In a fiercely competitive market, providers must ensure their platform is highly data driven for it to succeed.

“The implementation of these new services will offer our white labels an increased player lifetime value, lower costs and better analytics to drive improved acquisition.”

Better Collective has appointed Microsoft’s former president for Western Europe Klaus Holse, to its board of directors.

Holse is currently the CEO of investment management software solutions SimCorp and sits on the board of two other tech companies.

A Better Collective statement said Holse brought an “unmatched level of experience that will help drive the tech company forward”, and his addition to the board would assist the firm in driving its global technical strategy further.

Jesper Søgaard, CEO of Better Collective said: “We are truly excited to have Klaus join our board.

“Better Collective has always considered digital innovation as one of its core competences, and Klaus’ expertise will help us develop even further.”

Playtech BGT Sports has said downloads of its BetTracker product have more than doubled since the start of the football season.

The app, which allows retail customers to track and cash-out bets on their mobiles which have been placed in-shop on SSBTs is available in more than 2,000 shops around the UK and Ireland.

The product is set to go live on the GooglePlay store and has recently seen a surge in popularity with more than 30,000 bet tickets scanned and transferred to the app since the season began.

John Pettit, managing director for UK, Ireland, Asia, and Australia said: “We’re now confident it will be taken up by even more shop customers as we head towards the all-important World Cup next summer.”

Digital Sports Tech (DST) has entered the Nordics sports betting market with its Player Props and Quick Pick Accumulators products after partnering with operator Coolbet.

The new product, branded “Build Your Bet”, allows Nordic players to create and customise their own performance or proposition bets on any player and statistic.

The product can be used for English Premier League, UEFA Champions League, La Liga, and Serie A matches, as well as NFL, NBA and the MLB.

Coolbet COO said: “Our customers are much more statistics-driven than a few years ago, so we are delighted to offer a product where customers can use their knowledge to use and build their own bets.”

The Games Company has launched in-house content as part of a strategic distribution deal with William Hill via the NYX Gaming Group.

TGC supplied the content using their RGS, powered by Black Cow’s Open Gaming Architecture (OGA) software.

The first game to launch is Mariachi Mayhem, a five-reel slot with a festive Mexican theme, with instant win games added monthly.

William Hill’s gaming commercial director Graeme Powrie said: “We believe that the partnership with TGC will allow William Hill to continue to offer our customers the widest range of gaming content available across our ever-growing portfolio.”

GAMING1 has become the first international company to obtain a casino and sportsbook licence under Colombia’s new regulatory regime in a 50-50 share capital joint venture with local operator Vicca Group.

The result of the partnership is Zamba.co, which at launch is available on both mobile and desktop and offers a selection of games that include roulette, blackjack and slots.

The initial wave of titles is exclusively provided by GAMING1, with more certified providers to be added in the coming weeks.

GAMING1 CEO Sylvain Boniver said: “Colombia is setting the benchmark in Latin America, with its robust regulatory framework similar to those seen in the European market, and to be the first to launch a combined casino and sportsbook underlines the strength of our approach.”

Peer-to-peer cryptocurrency CasinoCoin has appointed a number of senior gambling industry professionals to its foundation’s newly-established advisory board.

CasinoCoin was acquired and re-launched by former PokerStars marketing director John Caldwell and Rational Group’s Duncan Cameron, and is being developed in partnership with a number of leading egaming jurisdictions including the Isle of Man and Malta.

CEO of Gamesys Lee Fenton; Britt Boeskov, CPO of Kindred Group; and Sam Hobcraft, CEO of OPL Gaming Group, are among those appointed to the board.

Director John Caldwell said: “We have assembled a team with unparalleled experience from across the global gaming sector and beyond.”