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Digital Entrepreneurship in Sports: former professional athletes present 4 projects to innovate in sport business
The entrepreneurial ideas that have been elaborated during the training program powered by SKS365 were showed to the public in the HUB of LVenture Group
A marketplace for sponsorships, an on-demand physiotherapy platform, a corporate placement network for athletes and an app that optimizes the experience of sports tourism are the four projects that see the light at the end of the training course Digital & Entrepreneurship in Sports.
The project, powered by SKS365 and LVenture Group, a listed VC operator among the main startup accelerators at the European level, took place in the first half of 2021 with the goal of meeting the needs of many former professional sportsmen and women. Most of them, in fact, find it difficult to reintroduce themselves into the job market once they finish their sports career. The challenge is to integrate the soft skills developed as athletes (competitive approach, goal-oriented mindset, team spirit) with technical skills allowing them to be successful in one of the sectors with more future perspectives: the digital economy.
“Training is one of the key values of our Corporate Identity, and sport represents the universe in which we operate and that we want to contribute to developing a more systematic and functional way, especially in these unprecedented times due to the pandemic – commented Brian Dean, SKS365 Chief People Officer – We are therefore very happy to have contributed to the reskilling process of the former professional athletes who took part in the training program. From the very beginning, we were pleasantly impressed by the spirit of initiative and entrepreneurship that the class has shown. The projects presented today are concrete proof of the commitment, the proactive approach, the great team work and skills that the former sportsmen have developed during this journey with us. They also prove the ex-athletes’ capability to turn an idea into a successful business project.”
The athletes who took part in this first edition of Digital & Entrepreneurship in Sports were divided into teams to work on four projects that were presented in Rome, at LVenture Group’s HUB.
Sponsorboom is the project presented by Andrea Fontanella, Carlotta Oggioni, Giulia Paolillo, Luca Alpozzi and Sonja Percan, with the aim of bridging the gap between the offer and the demand for sponsorship in the sports environment. Andrea Coronica, currently a basketball player at Allianz Trieste, presented Morbin, along with the team made up of Manuel Pascali, Stefano Bossi, Stephen Makinwa and Coronica himself. It is an app dedicated to personalized training and rehabilitation with a science-based approach. Another app has been developed by Giulio Alberto Silva, Marco Ponteri, Nicola Sesto and Rabia Jendoubi: Travel Sport is dedicated to supporting travel and tourism linked to sports events. The fourth project is called Sport2Work, developed by Andrea Radin, Daniele Postiglioni, Giorgio Barbareschi and Lara Peyrot. The team has presented a customized platform to define the best training path for athletes, based on their soft skills and providing them tutoring and mentoring courses as well as online training and internships in companies.
“This program gave the opportunity to explore the connections between sport and digital economy, enrichingus with a new point of view, that of the participants, highly qualified thanks to their great experience in the sport sector. The projects which have been developed thanks to the collaboration with the SKS365 Training Program, the work of our Open Innovation team and the mentors involved, respond to the new needs of various stakeholders in the sports industry. This confirm show digital can open up new training, professional and business growth scenarios in a sector that is more and more oriented to innovation”, said Antonella Zullo, Head of Open Innovation at LVenture Group.
The final event, directed by the sports journalist Giulia Mizzoni, was also an opportunity to discuss the new scenario of the digital economy for the sport industry. Among the panelists, there was also Paolo Carito, Executive Manager and Visiting Professor in Sport Management, Andrea Bellamio, CEO of Mister Calcio and Mandarino Adv, Stefano Gobbi, Senior Program Manager Sport e Salute and Matteo Musa, CEO of Fitprime.
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Totogaming Joins Cernica Pantelimon RunFest: Not Just Present, But Fully Participating
“We weren’t just present — we were participants of Runfest. And that’s one of the most important aspects,” said Artak Ashkhatoyan, Deputy CEO of Totogaming.
On July 6, Totogaming joined the Cernica Pantelimon Runfest in Romania, once again emphasizing the importance of promoting amateur sports and a healthy lifestyle.
“Supporting such initiatives is a priority for TotoGaming. First, 50% of the proceeds from RunFest will be donated to the CLOVES Romania Foundation, supporting children affected by CLOVES Syndrome. And second, we’ve always believed in showing our passion for sports through actions, not just words. Have you noticed how we’re constantly rushing through life, yet when we look back, it often feels like we haven’t moved at all? It’s important for us to lead by example and show the importance of participation. This is exactly the message we’re promoting through our team’s active involvement in the marathon. After all, there can never be too much sport in our lives,” said TotoGaming’s Deputy CEO, Artak Ashkhatoyan.
A Simple Concept, a Powerful Impact
The concept of this sports event is straightforward: choose a distance between 1 to 21 kilometers and run. The goal? Make sport an integral part of everyday life. The crowd certainly embraced that, gathering as early as 8:30 a.m. — on a Sunday morning.
Totogaming contributed in two distinct capacities: as an official sponsor and as an active participant. A dedicated team of 13 employees represented the company at the Cernica Pantelimon RunFest, with 7 of them proudly taking part as runners.
More Than Just a Run
It wasn’t an easy challenge — especially because among Totogaming’s runners were people for whom running isn’t a daily habit, or even part of their life at all. Yet they couldn’t miss the opportunity, not least from the perspective of corporate responsibility.
“We just finished the 7.5-kilometer race!” shared Petrut-Adrian Toea from the Totogaming team.
“It was amazing, honestly. Around the 2-kilometer mark, I had this little battle with myself — I told myself I had to finish the race, no matter what. And I did it! I came in around 60th place out of over 100 runners, which for me is a really good result.”
“I see my participation as a small contribution toward promoting a healthy lifestyle. In my close circle, everyone knows I’m not exactly the sporty type. I’m not athletic, and I usually prefer having fun in other ways. But showing up here, early in the morning, in this intense heat, and completing almost 8 kilometers with just one short break — I think it set a good example.”
“I hope seeing someone like me finish this challenge motivates my friends to try something similar for their own health. I believe that’s a meaningful contribution”, – added Petrut-Andrea.
Totogaming also made it possible for every attendee to bring sport into their lives — quite literally. At the Totogaming tent, participants could ride stationary bikes and receive prizes based on the number of points they earned through their efforts.
Whether they were running, cycling, or simply cheering for friends, the goal for everyone was the same: to reach the destination of champions — by bringing sport into everyday life.
The post Totogaming Joins Cernica Pantelimon RunFest: Not Just Present, But Fully Participating appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
BMM Testlabs, the world’s original gaming test lab renowned for exceptional product compliance and certification services, today announced the promotion of Sacha McLaughlin to Vice President of Global Quality Assurance.
BMM’s President of Land-Based Gaming & Inspections, Kirk White, said, “Sacha has consistently demonstrated exceptional leadership, operational excellence, and a customer-first attitude. Her experience and passion will be critical as we continue to grow our QA services to meet the always-evolving needs of the global gaming industry.”
With over 18 years of experience in software implementation and seven years in the gaming industry, McLaughlin brings extensive knowledge of both agile and waterfall development methodologies, test planning, project management, and cross-regional team leadership. She is recognized for her ability to build and scale QA organizations that deliver quality, speed, and value to customers.
McLaughlin joined BMM in 2018 and has held roles of increasing responsibility within the Company, most recently serving as Senior Director of Quality Assurance. Throughout her tenure, she has been instrumental in expanding BMM’s QA capabilities and helping customers launch products into the global gaming market more quickly, with a focus on regulatory compliance, functionality, fairness, and security.
The post BMM TESTLABS PROMOTES SACHA MCLAUGHLIN TO VICE PRESIDENT OF GLOBAL QUALITY ASSURANCE appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.
Major findings from the newly launched report include playable ads having the potential to deliver impression-to-install rates 16 times that of non-playable formats for emerging gaming apps and a 20% increase in spending on interactive ads year over year.
Liftoff, a leading AI-enabled growth platform for the mobile app economy, has published its seventh annual Mobile Ad Creative Index. The report explores top creative trends that are attracting and scaling in ad spend across consumer apps and games. It also highlights the expanding role of AI in creative production, testing, and optimization.
This year’s Mobile Ad Creative Index specifically analyzes creative concepts that have excelled in scale for Liftoff’s highest-spending advertisers over the past 12 to 48 months. It is based on findings from over 4.7 trillion impressions, 263 billion clicks, and 1.1 billion installs between 1 January 2023 and 31 May 2025.
Highlights from the report include:
Top consumer apps are investing in interactive ads to compete for engagement
In 2024, the share of spend on interactive ads for top apps increased by 20% year over year. The share of spend increased by 2% for spenders outside the top tier. Top-spending apps differentiate their campaigns by adding innovations to evergreen concepts such as social scrollers, carousels, and scratch-offs.
Playable ads deliver returns across ad budgets for mobile game advertisers
In 2024, the share of spend on playable ads for top games averaged 35% higher than other games. Across all ad budgets, however, playable ads delivered higher conversion rates. Impression-to-install rates were 8 times that of non-playable formats for top spenders and 16 times that of non-playable formats for other game advertisers.
Tailoring “metaplay” elements to motivations can improve performance
“Metaplay” elements—gameplay that diverges from an app’s core design to appeal to a broader audience—are widespread, but top games gain an edge by tailoring their metaplay ads to the publisher audience. The report found that aligning “metaplay” creative with publisher audiences resulted in a 93% increase in installs-per-mille.
UGC is becoming a key differentiator in driving scale for consumer apps
The share of spend on user-generated content (UGC) increased 11% for top-spending apps, with social and utility apps seeing the most significant jump of nearly 30% between 2023 and 2024.
Widespread adoption of Gen AI leads to more customized ad experiences
Creative teams increasingly leverage AI to enhance top-performing assets with 3D and motion and to create and test variations. Top advertisers also use AI to recombine their assets in customized ad experiences that break away from standard video to playable formats.
Yann Zeller, Chief of Staff, Creative at Liftoff, said: “Today’s creative landscape is shaped by a single, powerful truth: attention is the commodity, and brands, games, and influencers are all vying for it. Great mobile ad experiences can earn attention by aligning context with behavior. As ad formats become richer and AI expands our ability to personalize and adapt creatives at scale, we’re able to unlock new insights into user behavior and motivation. We see users spend meaningful stretches with the right content, sometimes 60 to 90 seconds when the ad feels personal or prompts meaningful participation. This isn’t just a better way to advertise—it’s a better way to tell stories and the most exciting brief we’ve had in years.”
Soren Steelquist, Director of Creative Production, said: “The proof is in the data—more and more consumer apps are incorporating UGC into every stage of their marketing, and programmatic is no different. UGC works because it’s authentic and relatable, and users are more likely to be influenced by ad when it’s coming from a trustworthy source. To see higher impact from UGC creatives, work with a partner that can match the right creator with your brand and develop winning concepts that resonate with audiences.”
The post Liftoff’s 2025 Mobile Ad Creative Index Reveals UGC Is a Key Differentiator for Top Apps appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.
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