onnesen brings a wealth of online gaming experience from PokerStars, BetWarrior

Online gaming industry veteran Morten Tonnesen has joined Shape Games as Chief Commercial Officer and also joins the Board bringing more than a decade of industry experience to the company as it aims to grow significantly in the U.S. online gambling market and across the world, Shape founder & CEO Christian Risom announced. Tonnesen was a long time marketing executive with gaming giant PokerStars and was most recently founder and CEO of sportsbetting operator BetWarrior.

Shape is a leading consumer app developer for major global brands and recently created Shape Games to address the specific needs of the online gambling industry. Risom and co-founders CPO Nicolas Linde, CIO Ole Gammelgaard and CTO Philip Bruce have created consumer apps for leading global brands including Apple, ebay, IKEA and Red Bull. Shape also has a long history with Danske Spil, Denmark’s state-run gambling operator of Oddset, the leading Danish online sportsbook.

Shape recently renewed a long-term agreement with Danske Spil and is accelerating growth in the burgeoning US sports betting market having launched with ballybet.com in Colorado and Iowa powering ‘Bally Friends’ with more US clients to come. The company is working in Latin America with BetWarrior.

Shape’s innovative and proprietary gaming software platform leverages best practices in consumer apps with first-class native customer engagement platform using predictive analytics and machine learning to inform back-end data and insights. This platform gives gaming operators the ability to improve customer experience and gain competitive advantage in the increasingly crowded marketplace.

Shape’s work with Danske Spil has been recognised with numerous industry awards for innovation, while the company has been named an industry rising star by respected industry media outlet EGR for each of the past two years.

“We are excited to bring Morten onboard and our clients will benefit from his deep management and marketing expertise in the online gaming sector,” Risom said. “We can deliver a full suite of products and services to local market land-based casino operators who are looking for a one-stop-shop consumer product partner to bring their business and their customers online. Morten’s deep experience will help us accelerate our growth and lead the way in the U.S. and European markets.”

Tonnesen said: “Shape Games has distinguished itself as a nimble, dynamic and innovative technology leader and I’m excited to help lead the company into its next stage of global growth. Shape’s consumer technology domain experience ensures that their modern, customer-focused apps stand above the traditional, clunky gaming apps from the first generation of online operators. This next generation must compete with not only other betting and casino companies, but with other entertainment choices including streaming and social games.”

Tonnesen points to Shape’s highly customisable native frontend as a unique innovation in the gambling industry and distinguishes the company as a sought-after B-to-B platform and service provider.