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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.”

executive-moves

Paysecure hires Entain’s Ganesh Iyer as Head of Product

Published

58 minutes ago

June 29, 2026

Wladimir P.

paysecure-hires-entain’s-ganesh-iyer-as-head-of-product

The payment orchestration platform also appoints Lili Piper as Senior Partnership Manager and adds infrastructure and blockchain leads.

Paysecure has appointed Ganesh Iyer, formerly of Entain, as Head of Product, as the payment orchestration platform looks to scale internationally across iGaming and global ecommerce.

Paysecure said Iyer will lead the next stage of product design. At FTSE 100-listed Entain, he led Global Payments across 20+ regulated markets, managing a team of seven Product Managers and distributed engineering squads.

The company also named Lili Piper as Senior Partnership Manager. Piper previously worked as Business Development Director at Volt.io and Senior Business Development Manager at Paysafe, and will focus on growing revenue from Paysecure’s partner network and adding strategic partners to expand payment method choice for clients.

Paysecure added that it has made further hires over the last two months, including Head of Infrastructure and Head of Blockchain, as it expands its technical footprint.

Ganesh Iyer, Head of Product, Paysecure, commented, “After time at Entain, I am pleased to join the Paysecure team and having worked on the operator side of the orchestration space, I can’t wait to get started. I’m looking forward to refining our products to clearly address the deep needs of our client personas, and surface clear product and functionality feature sets that differentiate us in our market as a challenger brand.”

Amit Hooja, Co-Founder and CEO at Paysecure, said: “We’re excited to welcome Ganesh and our new colleagues to the Paysecure team. Ganesh will spearhead our product development, and there’s a shared sense of purpose towards the work we are doing, which we believe is game changing in the payment orchestration space. We look forward to bringing new products to the market and continue to lead the way in the sector”.

The post Paysecure hires Entain’s Ganesh Iyer as Head of Product appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

Affiliate Management

ReferOn shortlisted for Best Affiliate Management Platform at iGB Awards 2026

Published

58 minutes ago

June 29, 2026

Wladimir P.

referon-shortlisted-for-best-affiliate-management-platform-at-igb-awards-2026

Winners will be announced on July 2 during iGB L!VE week in London.

Affiliate management platform ReferOn has been shortlisted for “Best Affiliate Management Platform” at the iGB Affiliate Awards 2026. The winners will be announced live on July 2 during iGB L!VE week in London.

ReferOn said the nomination reflects its recent growth and product development, positioning the platform for high-volume affiliate programmes. The company said it processes “millions of data points” across partner networks and automates operational workflows to reduce admin overhead for operators and affiliates.

Alex Bukin, CEO at ReferOn, commented on the shortlisting: “Being shortlisted for an iGB Affiliate Award is a significant milestone for our team. As affiliate programmes scale, complexity often becomes the biggest obstacle to growth. Our goal is to remove that complexity by giving operators clearer insights, stronger automation, and full control over their affiliate operations. This nomination reflects the direction in which we’re continuing to invest in.”

The company also pointed to a recent platform update, Refie, described as a new user experience layer aimed at simplifying navigation of complex workflows. ReferOn said Refie provides clearer visual guidance across onboarding screens and system state pages, with the goal of improving visibility across operational processes.

ReferOn said it will attend iGB L!VE London to meet partners, operators, and affiliates.

The post ReferOn shortlisted for Best Affiliate Management Platform at iGB Awards 2026 appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

GGPoker

GGPoker opens satellites for WSOP Circuit CDMX México 2026

Published

58 minutes ago

June 29, 2026

Wladimir P.

ggpoker-opens-satellites-for-wsop-circuit-cdmx-mexico-2026

Big Bola Casinos hosts the stop at Hotel Barceló Santa Fe in Mexico City from Aug. 31 to Sept. 11, with online qualifiers running June 28–Aug. 23.

GGPoker has launched online satellite tournaments for WSOP® Circuit CDMX México 2026, a live series scheduled for August 31 to September 11 at Big Bola Casinos in CDMX, México, hosted at Hotel Barceló Santa Fe.

According to the company, the WSOP Circuit stop will include 12 World Series of Poker® gold ring tournaments, alongside side events, VIP activities, and international media coverage.

“WSOP Circuit CDMX calls on the region’s top poker talent to chase glory in Mexico, combining high-stakes competition with the electric, legendary energy of a true global metropolis” said Juan Carreño, Head of Spanish Latam at GGPoker.

GGPoker’s posted satellite schedule runs from June 28, 2026 to August 23, 2026 (UTC +0), with weekday $5 daily satellites feeding $33 steps, weekday $33 steps into a $215 weekly final (2 seats guaranteed), a Saturday freebuy (4x $33 daily steps guaranteed), and Sunday “last chance” and weekly final events.

The company said each event champion in CDMX México will also receive a $5,000 package to this year’s WSOP Paradise in the Bahamas, in addition to the prize pool payout and a WSOP Circuit gold ring.

The post GGPoker opens satellites for WSOP Circuit CDMX México 2026 appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.