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

Published

5 years ago

June 10, 2021

Reading Time: 2 minutes

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.”

7Games

FIRST.bet Launches Sportsbook with Brazil’s Biggest Online Casino Operator

Published

9 minutes ago

June 22, 2026

Wladimir P.

first.bet-launches-sportsbook-with-brazil’s-biggest-online-casino-operator

7Games partners with FIRST.bet to deliver Tier-1 sportsbook technology to one of Brazil’s largest casino operators.

7Games, Betão, and R7—brands managed by OIG Gaming Brazil Ltda. and recognized as key players in Brazil’s casino-led betting market—have launched a comprehensive sportsbook platform powered by FIRST.bet’s leading Tier-1 technology.

As one of Brazil’s most prominent casino operators, OIG Gaming Brazil Ltda. opted for FIRST.bet to seamlessly expand its reach into the sports betting sector across its trio of brands. This partnership underscores the scalability and robustness of FIRST.bet, demonstrating its capacity to support large-scale, multi-brand ecosystems in the competitive Brazilian market.

Leveraging FIRST.bet’s SportOS operating system, 7Games developed a customized sportsbook front end tailored to its unique branding and user experience. While players interact with a platform fully reflective of 7Games’ identity—from design to functionality—the underlying engine driving trading, pricing, live markets, and overall performance is powered by FIRST.bet.

As a casino-first operator venturing into sports betting, 7Games required a sportsbook solution aligning directly with the nuances of the Brazilian market. FIRST.bet delivered exactly that: a product optimized for Brazil, complete with Brazilian-Portuguese language capabilities, odds models tailored for national leagues, and high-performance live betting, trading, and risk management systems to meet the demands of a competitive scale.

“Brazil isn’t a market where you can afford slow growth—your product must hit the ground running,” explained Fernando Oliveira Lima, Founder and CEO of 7Games. “FIRST.bet provided us with a solution already optimized for this market, allowing us to concentrate on serving our players rather than troubleshooting underlying technology.”

Echoing this sentiment, Tom Light, Founder and CEO of FIRST.bet, added, “Success in Brazil hinges on getting the product right from day one. Operators who fail to meet those expectations are quickly left behind. With 7Games already commanding significant casino traffic, they now have a sportsbook designed to handle that scale. It’s their unique brand experience backed by an engine built for top-tier performance, which is exactly why we developed SportOS.”

The post FIRST.bet Launches Sportsbook with Brazil’s Biggest Online Casino Operator appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

7Games

7Games, Betão & R7 Launch FIRST.bet Sportsbook in Brazil

Published

9 minutes ago

June 22, 2026

GamingAmericas.com

7games,-betao-&-r7-launch-first.bet-sportsbook-in-brazil

7Games selects FIRST.bet to bring Tier-1 sportsbook technology to one of the biggest casino operators in Brazil.

7Games, Betão and R7, three brands operated by OIG Gaming Brazil Ltda. and among Brazil’s largest casino-led betting brands, have gone live with a full sportsbook powered by Tier-1 technology from FIRST.bet.

Already among Brazil’s biggest casino operators, OIG chose FIRST.bet to power the move into sports across all three brands, proving the engine reaches Brazil-scale operators running multiple brands at once.

7Games built its own sportsbook front end on SportOS, the FIRST.bet operating system, with the FIRST.bet engine running underneath. Players see a sportsbook that is entirely 7Games, its brand, its design, its experience, while the trading, pricing, live markets and performance come from FIRST.bet.

7Games is a casino-led brand moving into sports, so it needed a sportsbook that already fits Brazil, not one it would have to adapt. FIRST.bet ships that out of the box: a Brazilian-Portuguese product, odds models tuned to the Brazilian leagues, and the live betting, trading and risk management needed to compete at national scale.

“Brazil is not a market you can grow into slowly. The product has to work from day one,” said Fernando Oliveira Lima, Founder and CEO of 7Games. “FIRST.bet gave us a sportsbook that already fits this market, so we could focus on our players instead of fixing the technology underneath them.”

“Brazil rewards operators who get the product right and punishes the ones who don’t,” said Tom Light, Founder and CEO of FIRST.bet. “7Games already commands serious traffic on the casino side. Now they have a sportsbook built to hold up under that kind of pressure, on their own front-end, running on our engine. That is exactly what SportOS was built for.”

The post 7Games, Betão & R7 Launch FIRST.bet Sportsbook in Brazil appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.

CreedRoomz

CreedRoomz launches Maradona Run live game show with licensed rights

Published

2 days ago

June 20, 2026

Wladimir P.

creedroomz-launches-maradona-run-live-game-show-with-licensed-rights

The new football-themed title keeps CreedRoomz’ existing mechanics and adds a Maradona-branded visual overhaul and 10,000x max payout claim.

CreedRoomz has launched a new live game show, “Maradona Run,” which the supplier says is backed by official rights and is now available to partner operators on the CreedRoomz Live Casino platform.

The company positions the release around the upcoming World Cup games, with a football-themed reskin of its existing interactive game show concept. CreedRoomz said the game’s “logic and core mechanics remain exactly the same,” while the visual identity has been rebuilt around a 3D animated caricature of Diego Maradona in a number 10 jersey.

Maradona Run combines a lottery-style ball draw, where players can manage up to eight interactive cards, with an “endless runner” bonus round. In the bonus sequence, the Maradona character runs through an obstacle course collecting glowing soccer balls that the supplier says translate into gameplay advantages including multipliers, speed boosts and prize doublers. CreedRoomz stated the game has a maximum payout potential of up to 10,000x the bet.

“Securing the official rights for Maradona Run allows us to hand our partners a massive competitive advantage just in time for the World Cup games,” said Armen Mnatsakanyan, Head of Sales Department at CreedRoomz. “By merging the legendary global appeal of Maradona with our high-retention endless-runner mechanic, we have created a premium crossover product that effortlessly converts football fans into loyal live casino players. The proven logic and math models are exactly what operators trust, but the brand power and vibrant new look make this a must-have commercial powerhouse.”

The title features a live presenter alongside the animated character and includes three bonus ticket tiers—Sprint, Trailblaze, and Marathon—intended to provide multiple bonus-entry paths per round, according to the supplier.

The post CreedRoomz launches Maradona Run live game show with licensed rights appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.