Zeal expands into Holland and Norway with Lottovate
Operator obtains five-year Dutch licence and partners UNICEF for Norwegian lottery launch
Zeal Network’s Lottovate brand is set to expand its reach into the Dutch and Norwegian markets after receiving two new charity lottery licences, it was announced today.
The London-based operator’s Dutch licence will enable the firm to run a nationwide charity lottery for five years, with plans to launch its new “mobile-first” product by Q3 2017.
Its expansion into the Netherlands comes after Lottovate last year received a lottery licence which ran until 31 December 2016, having previously been prevented from obtaining a licence in 2014 by the Dutch regulator.
However, a ruling by the Court of Amsterdam last May had said there was just no justification for limiting the amount of charity lottery licences to four, which were held by Postcode Loterij, Nationale Postcodeloterij, BankGiro Loterij and VriendenLoterij.
“The decision of the Dutch regulator to approve the Lottovate licence is a powerful validation of the quality of our offering and our long-standing expertise in the field of online lotteries,” Zeal CEO, Dr Helmut Becker, said. “It also underlines the excellent progress we are making with Lottovate.”
Zeal Network also announced today it had become one of only two operators to be granted a charity lottery licence in Norway, with plans to launch a new lottery in the country in partnership with UNICEF.
The mobile-first lottery will run for a period of nine years and is expected to launch in Q2 2017.
“The collaboration with UNICEF in Norway has proven to be a successful one and we are happy to offer our customers a unique online lottery experience,” Becker said.
“At the same time, our customers will be able to support beneficial development projects for children in under developed and war-torn countries.”
According to Zeal, the Norwegian lottery market is estimated to represent total sales of €1.5bn, while the current size of the Dutch market is estimated to be more than €2bn.
Today’s news comes after Zeal’s Tipp24 brand recently announced the launch of a new Ireland-facing lottery betting site, just weeks after Lottoland made its debut in the market.