EGR Power 50 2020: Ones to watch
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Luckbox
It’s safe to say 2020 has been a transformative year for esports with the lack of live sports and closure of retail operations pushing a new wave of players into the vertical. Luckbox is one of the real-money betting operators reaping the rewards of these changes, experiencing an increase of 500% on bets placed during the Covid-19 lockdown. After successfully completing a capital raising round and sealing a deal with capital pool company Elephant Hill, the Isle of Man-based operator plans to go public on the Toronto Venture Exchange. At this year’s EGR Operator Awards, Luckbox beat off stiff competition from 10 other shortlisted companies to win in the rising star category.
Enlabs
This Nordic-focused operator isn’t exactly a new company; it was set up in 2002 as Redbet before rebranding to Nordic Leisure and finally Enlabs. Now one of the biggest egaming operators in the Baltics and holding national gaming licences in six countries, Enlabs runs the Optibet sportsbook and casino as well as several affiliate sites including BestBet. In January, the operator was confirmed as one of the new investors in Swedish DFS provider Scout Gaming and, in June, doubled its stake in fellow Nordic-facing operator Global Gaming to almost 30% followed by an increase in August to 54.06%. In October, Enlabs got the competition go-ahead for the full takeover of Global Gaming. The operator predicts major cost savings in combining the businesses to the tune of €5m annually, and stated its plans to grow across Eastern Europe.
Coolbet
Coolbet has been up and running since 2015 and holds Estonian, Swedish and Maltese gaming licences. Headquartered in Estonia’s capital, Tallinn, the company employs around 170 employees, including former Gaming Innovation Group (GiG) director of sports Endre Nesset who joined Coolbet in the same position in August. The company previously received financial backing from Tim Heath’s venture capital fund Vereeni Investments but is now strongly holding its own generating €18.6m in revenue for the first nine months of 2020, with EBITDA of €500,000. In November, supplier GAN sealed a €149m cash-plus-stock deal to acquire Coolbet parent company Vincent Group. GAN CEO Dermot Smurfit said: “They are expert marketers and have grown their top-line over 46% in highly competitive and established markets in Northern Europe, Latin American and Canada.” The purchase is still subject to approval and expected to complete in Q1 2021.
Wynn Interactive
Although not making the cut for this year’s EGR US Power Rankings and having suffered badly with casino closures due to Covid-19, US casino operator Wynn Interactive is gathering pace in the online gambling world. Back in October 2018, the company confirmed a partnership with BetBull, acquiring a 22.5% stake in the social betting start-up. This was recently upped to 71% in an $80m joint venture as Wynn looks to expand and diversify its interactive division with launches planned in Colorado, Michigan and Indiana next year.