Q&A: Robin Reed, Gaming Innovation Group CEO

Gaming Innovation Group (GiG) has been quietly building a unique business within the egaming space but it was the acquisition of Betit Group earlier this year which really caught the industry’s attention.

In June, the Malta-headquartered firm announced a €54m deal for Betit in what signified a major signal of intent for GiG. And with the acquisition having recently received the regulatory stamp of approval, the question now is what comes next.

eGaming Review spoke to GiG’s chief executive Robin Reed to find out more about the integration process and how the operator has been performing in recent months.

eGaming Review (EGR): How would you sum up Gaming Innovation Group’s performance in recent months?

Robin Reed (RR): We are in the early stages of our mission to make egaming an open and connected ecosystem for the benefit of all. The idea is to use lean technology as an enabler of cost-saving synergies for all stakeholders. End users, B2B clients, service providers and suppliers are continuously connecting with us, which in turn yields growth. In Q2 we grew 160% to some €9.7m in revenues and had an EBITDA of close to €1m. This trend continued into August where we had an all-time high.

EGR: Which parts of the business are performing strongest?

RR: Each part of the business plays a role in our ecosystem and are as such closely intertwined. When our operators are growing their volumes, we are offered better rates, which in turns allows us to sell our white label solution at a better price point. It is therefore hard, and possibly unfair, to point to one business model over the other. All of our three business areas – gaming operators, performance marketing and cloud services – are growing fast and performing well.

EGR: Is everything going to plan with the Betit Group integration?

RR: Necessary governmental bodies have recently approved the transaction. We are now focused on integrating the organisation, in parallel with an integration of Betit’s operator brands to our iGamingCloud platform.

EGR: What was it that made Betit such an attractive acquisition target?

RR: The track record and potential of the people and their products, as well as the synergies we can unleash when coupling them with GiG. And it is needed because the world of front-end technologies is diverging. A few years back everyone was offering a single version of the product. Nowadays, even before most companies in our industry were ready with their fully native mobile apps, new technologies such as wearables, virtual reality and latest, augmented reality, have invaded our lives. To master all this you need to be focused on consumer habits and technology on a large scale. This is what we want to achieve with the Betit acquisition.

EGR: How are your plans progressing with the opening of your new office and how will this help the business?

RR: All around the world there are people with an idea that could disrupt the egaming industry. With GiG we are trying to make available the resources and culture for such people to find us and flourish. Our new HQ will promote the flow of information, inspiration and playfulness for our people and be an open hub for the huge range of partners and clients we have.

EGR: Tell us about the launch of Dafabet on your iGaming Cloud platform.

RR: Due to integrity reasons we have a policy of not commenting on the individual operations of our clients or partners.

EGR: What makes your iGaming Cloud platform stand out and do you have plans to add any more tier-one operators?

RR: If you want to offer a beautiful user interface, a great user experience and are looking for a platform which allows you to build up your own flavour of gamification, then there won’t be many platforms that can compete with us. Nevertheless, we are early in our evolution. To see such great companies signing with us just a year since inception is humbling and inspiring. We will continue to sign clients and we will continue to develop the software.