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Smarkets raises Series B funding round to supercharge international and domestic growth

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Smarkets, one of the world’s largest betting exchange and prediction market platforms, has announced the closing of a significant minority investment from Susquehanna Growth Equity (SGE).

Having raised just £3.8m ($5.4m) since its inception in 2008, with its Series A round coming back in 2013, Smarkets has built a leading exchange platform that processes billions of pounds in traded volume each year. The company has offices in London, Los Angeles, and Malta, licensed customer-focused operations in five countries, and in 2019 released innovative sportsbook app SBK.

Smarkets is delighted to welcome SGE, which joins existing investors Passion Capital and Deutsche Telekom in supporting the company’s mission to fix betting with the fairest odds in the industry.

This new investment will allow Smarkets to accelerate its rollout in the US, where it is already live in Colorado with sportsbook app SBK and set to go live in Indiana soon. The funding will also bolster SBK’s position in the UK mainstream betting market after its successful launch in August 2019.

The new investment will contribute to:

Furthering the company’s US presence, including market-access deals in new, regulated states
Capturing an even greater share of the UK betting exchange market and accelerating SBK’s growth in the UK’s mainstream sportsbook market
Expanding Smarkets’ development of new products for customers and focus on industry-leading prices on sports, politics, and current affairs
Continuing to capture the best and brightest worldwide engineering talent with a view to doubling headcount by the end of 2022
Further expansion into new and recently entered markets such as Denmark and Sweden

Jason Trost, founder and CEO of Smarkets, said:

“This is an incredibly exciting day. I’ve always been amazed what the passion and energy of a comparatively small group of committed people can accomplish against much bigger rivals; Smarkets and SBK are the product of exactly that. At Smarkets we have always been guided by our vision of fixing betting with the best prices and products, and SGE is just as excited as us to challenge the status quo. This is a huge endorsement of our technology and will allow us to further upend the industry by offering bets as close to fair value as possible.

“We are super proud of what we have achieved so far in the UK betting space, and this new investment will help take us to the next level and beyond in the UK, US, and other international markets. I’d like to thank the women and men that work and have worked at Smarkets for getting us to where we are.

“I truly believe the best is yet to come. This investment will allow us to fight with greater resources, move faster, and be bolder in our mission. We’re so excited about the opportunities this investment unlocks.”

Scott Feldman, Managing Director with Susquehanna Growth Equity, said:

“We are delighted to be able to join Smarkets on their upward journey. We immediately identified with their vision of using technology to take on the betting industry’s big operators by providing the fairest odds in the world and maintaining a clear focus on product excellence.

“Smarkets have achieved a huge amount with little investment to date and we can’t wait to see them go from strength to strength as they expand further into both the US and UK mainstream market.”

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RubyPlay rolls out in-game Missions and Tournaments engagement tools

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RubyPlay has launched a new suite of in-game Engagement Tools—starting with Missions and Tournaments—aimed at helping operators increase session depth and retention through game-level events.

The company said the tools move away from “wallet-level” engagement mechanics common in the market by tying objectives and scoring to events that occur inside the slot experience. Missions lets operators build campaigns where players complete specific in-game objectives in exchange for instant rewards.

Tournaments adds a time-bound competitive layer, with players earning points by triggering in-game events such as high-value symbol landings and feature activations. RubyPlay said both tools are designed to run as a native part of gameplay rather than an external overlay.

Deployment will extend across RubyPlay’s portfolio and its studio ecosystem, including RubyPlay Studio, Koala Games, Mad Hat Games, xSlots and Firerose, with each able to embed Missions and Tournaments in their titles.

Tsachi Maimon, Chief Executive Officer at RubyPlay, said: “When we developed our Engagement Tools, the goal was not to add another promotional layer on top of the game. The goal was to strengthen the game itself.

“Most engagement mechanics in the market are built around wallet activity or broad player behaviour. We wanted to take a different approach by building Missions and Tournaments around real in-game events, the moments players already connect with during the slot experience.

“That creates a more relevant and intuitive journey for players, while giving operators a powerful way to support longer sessions, stronger retention and deeper engagement across RubyPlay’s full content ecosystem.”

The post RubyPlay rolls out in-game Missions and Tournaments engagement tools appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

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iBankroll signs risk-sharing deal with MonkeyTilt for VIP wagering limits

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Partnership targets high-stakes variance coverage, enabling up to $1m-per-round blackjack and unlimited daily withdrawals, the companies say.

iBankroll has signed a risk-sharing partnership with crypto sports and casino operator MonkeyTilt to expand the operator’s high-stakes VIP wagering limits, the companies said.

The agreement uses iBankroll’s “Bankroll-as-a-Service” model, which is designed to absorb short-term variance tied to high-stakes play. iBankroll said the structure reduces the need for operators to hold large capital reserves to cover VIP action, freeing up balance sheet for investment in product, marketing and customer experience.

Under the deal, MonkeyTilt said it will offer $1 million per-round blackjack, $6 million maximum slot wins, unlimited daily withdrawals, and “top-of-market sports limits.” The press release adds that MonkeyTilt is backed by PolyChain and Pantera Capital and has raised over $80 million in funding.

Hayden Bowman, Co-Founder of iBankroll, said: “MonkeyTilt is building one of the most ambitious consumer products in the space.

“Sam and the team don’t take partnerships lightly and we don’t either when the deal is this size. We’ve spent the last several months getting every piece into place so MonkeyTilt can take on serious volume and volatility with zero bankroll risk on their side. It’s been a real pleasure working with them and we’re excited to keep going.”

Sam Kiki, Founder and CEO of MonkeyTilt, said: “MonkeyTilt has raised over $80 million from investors like Pantera Capital, Polychain, PokerGo, and myself. However, we have always had to earmark a large portion of our balance sheet to guarantee immediate payouts to winners.

“Moving forward, this risk will be assumed by our partners, freeing up our capital for growth. What most people don’t realise is that 99 percent of startup casinos don’t actually have a bankroll. Some take $100K-per-hand action knowing they can’t cover the downside. This deal puts us in the 1 percent that doesn’t have to think about it.”

The post iBankroll signs risk-sharing deal with MonkeyTilt for VIP wagering limits appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

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Pragmatic Play adds football theme to Big Bass series with new slot

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Pragmatic Play has released Big Bass Football Bonanza, a new entry in its Big Bass slot series that switches the franchise’s fisherman theme to a football stadium setting.

The 5×3 title uses trophy scatters to trigger a bonus game. According to the supplier, landing 3-5 trophy scatters awards 15-25 free spins, with wilds split into red and blue “teams” that collect money symbols worth up to 5,000x.

Pragmatic Play said red and blue wilds are collected on their respective sides, with every fourth wild on each team awarding 10 extra spins and adding multipliers of 2x, 3x and 10x on the first, second and third retrigger. The supplier added that if wilds land with no money symbols, or money symbols land with no wilds, paying symbols can be randomly transformed into wilds or cash prizes.

The launch lands just over two weeks before the world’s biggest football tournament gets underway. Pragmatic Play positions the release as the latest addition to the Big Bass franchise following recent titles Big Bass Trophy Catch and Big Bass Raceday Repeat.

Sharon McHugh, Director of Public Relations at Pragmatic Play, said: “Big Bass Football Bonanza has been designed to capture the electric atmosphere surrounding the world’s most-watched football tournament. From the stadium-inspired setting to the football-themed symbols, the game delivers an entertaining twist on the popular Big Bass formula.”

The post Pragmatic Play adds football theme to Big Bass series with new slot appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

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