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Graphyte Acquired by Optimove to Produce Powerful End-to-End Player Engagement Platform
The acquisition will significantly enhance Graphyte’s ability to seamlessly deliver personalized recommendations to players across channels and at scale
Graphyte, the realtime, cloud-based personalization platform built for the betting and iGaming industry, today announced it has been acquired by Optimove, the leading CRM Marketing Platform. The acquisition will cement Graphyte’s leader status in cloud-based personalization in the iGaming market, driving more operators to utilize its capabilities as part of their Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Marketing strategies carried out by Optimove’s multichannel CRM marketing hub.
Trusted by some of the world’s largest operators, Graphyte, founded in 2018 and employing 20, is a London-based startup built to fill the gap in the SaaS marketplace for a scalable Personalization Engine to serve the betting and iGaming industry. Operators like Entain, Sisal, 888, and others use Graphyte’s Personalization platform to serve AI-based product recommendations and dynamically personalize their web, native mobile sites, and mobile apps to engage customers in realtime through owned and paid marketing channels. For example, Gala Bingo has driven a 35% turnover uplift using Graphyte’s web personalization models and seen a 300% increase in site visits when providing intelligent recommendations to players through emails, instead of traditional static emails.
Graphyte applies advanced machine learning to betting, gameplay, and browsing activity in realtime to make every interaction with a customer relevant and in the moment. Unlike other personalization engines that require technical skills to deploy model results, the company’s flexible platform empowers marketers with complete control over how recommendations are made when testing and deploying personalized treatments without needing to make any changes to the core CMS.
The company’s robust offering includes:
- Recommend – fully featured realtime, personalized recommendation and rules engine
- Intelligent Layouts – web and app realtime AI-based personalized casino lobbies, homepages, banners, and navigation.
- Engage – realtime triggered messages.
- Momentum – social proof to surface trending and popular content on any channel.
- Retarget – personalized ads served up to end-users as they browse third-party sites.
- Site Search – instant, full-featured search capabilities for every channel and product.
Graphyte’s offering will now integrate with Optimove’s industry leading CRM Marketing capabilities. With a Customer Data Platform (CDP) at its core, Optimove offers marketing teams direct access to their customer data to build, test, orchestrate, and optimize hundreds of personalized CRM campaigns weekly.
Joint customers will benefit from synergies which will see Graphyte’s models enriched with robust data from Optimove’s CDP, while the models’ results will be readily accessible within customer profiles inside Optimove for segmentation, activation, and analysis. Joint customers will be able to reap these benefits and more, soon.
Furthermore, the acquisition will enable operators to provide players with realtime symmetric and personalized journeys. In addition to providing the end-to-end offering to iGaming and Sports Betting operators, Optimove, which has a significant non-gaming client base, will allocate resources to adapt and expand Graphyte’s web and app personalization capabilities to additional verticals.
Operators using the Graphyte and Optimove joint solution will be able to deliver unparalleled holistic player journeys such as:
- Symmetric multichannel journeys: Leveraging Graphyte’s personalized recommendations in outbound campaigns via Optimove’s email and mobile channels and ensuring customers view the same recommendations when clicking through to the brand’s website or mobile app.
- Geolocation-triggered personalized recommendations: Maximizing Graphyte’s bet recommendation relevancy by combining it with Optimove’s geo-fencing technology to trigger personalized messages to customers’ mobile apps. For example, triggering relevant sports betting recommendations when players enter a perimeter near a sport stadium.
- True 1-to-1 personalization: Selecting one of Graphyte’s 20 distinct AI-models to personalize player experiences based on robust segmentation from Optimove’s Customer Data Platform. For example, deploying a different model for high loyalty players and new ones.
“I’m proud to welcome Graphyte to the Optimove family,” said Optimove Founder and CEO Pini Yakuel. “As evident from this acquisition, and of Kumulos earlier this year, we’re very serious about ramping up our never-ending quest to expand marketing teams’ capabilities and effectiveness. Graphyte’s machine learning and personalization capabilities are way ahead of the curve. Combining those with our native customer data platform and multichannel journey orchestration engine will prove extremely valuable for both our client bases and the iGaming industry.”
“We couldn’t be happier to join forces with Optimove as an integral part of their offering,” said Damien Evans, CEO of Graphyte. “Optimove’s CRM Marketing capabilities are second to none, and its dominance in the iGaming market is well-established. If you add to that equation Graphyte’s market-leading machine learning personalization capabilities, the result is a game changing marketing tool which will create unprecedented freedom for brands to realize their CRM Marketing visions. We’re excited to receive this significant vote of confidence from Optimove, the leading CRM Marketing player in the iGaming market.”
The acquisition is part of Optimove’s continuous investment in expanding its CRM marketing capabilities for the iGaming and Sports Betting industry, following its September 2021 $75 million investment led by Summit Partners and the acquisition of personalized mobile marketing solution Kumulos, in March 2022.
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888.it
R. Franco Digital Shortlisted for Casino Platform Excellence at EGR Europe Awards 2026
R. Franco Digital, the leading Spanish iGaming provider, has been officially shortlisted for Casino Platform Supplier of the Year at the prestigious EGR Europe Awards 2026. The nomination recognizes a landmark year for the company, characterized by the explosive growth of its IRIS Open Omnichannel Platform and a major commercial breakthrough into the Italian market.
The winners will be announced during a gala ceremony on February 18, 2026, at the Hilton Malta, where the industry’s top-tier operators and suppliers gather to celebrate European gaming excellence.
IRIS: The Engine of Omnichannel Growth
The core of R. Franco Digital’s success lies in its IRIS platform, a highly scalable, multi-jurisdictional solution that unifies casino, sports betting, and retail management.
IRIS Platform Milestones (2025-2026):
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Jurisdictional Reach: Certified in 6 jurisdictions and operational in over 10 regulated markets.
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Content Depth: Seamlessly integrated with over 1,600 games from global third-party providers.
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Operational Stability: Provides 24/7 multilingual support and advanced real-time analytics for operators.
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Commercial Momentum: Secured 50+ new operator partnerships and entered three new markets within the last 12 months.
Performance Highlights: 4 Billion Game Rounds
R. Franco Digital’s games portfolio has seen a massive surge in engagement, bolstered by 20 new high-performance slot releases in 2025. Standout titles such as Strange Spins, Aphrodite, Zorro: Final Duel, Ovomon, and The Phantom contributed to a record-breaking year.
| Metric | 2025–2026 Achievement |
| Total Game Rounds | 4 Billion+ across regulated markets |
| Revenue Growth | 30% Increase during the judging period |
| New Content | 20 New slot titles launched |
| Expansion | Debut in the Italian regulated market |
Strategic Italian Market Entry
A major factor in the EGR shortlisting was R. Franco Digital’s successful entry into Italy. The provider rapidly localized its content to meet the specific demands of Italian players through tier-one partnerships:
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Stanleybet.it: Launched 19 games, including the Italian-exclusive debut of Strange Spins.
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888.it: Successfully rolled out the popular Super 7 3×3 title.
“We’re proud to be shortlisted for this award, which reflects the strength of our IRIS platform and the quality of the content we’ve delivered over the past year,” said Javier Sacristán Franco, International Business Director at R. Franco Digital. “Our team has worked hard to support operators with reliable, innovative solutions… we are delighted to see that effort recognised.”
The post R. Franco Digital Shortlisted for Casino Platform Excellence at EGR Europe Awards 2026 appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
Big Hot Flaming Pots
Big Hot Flaming Pots: Tasty Treasures – Lightning Box Brings Land-Based Hit Online
Light & Wonder has officially launched Big Hot Flaming Pots: Tasty Treasures, the digital debut of its highly successful land-based franchise. Developed by in-house specialist studio Lightning Box, this 3×5 slot offers 243 ways to win and a high-energy “three-pot” mechanic that has already become a staple on casino floors worldwide.
The game transitions the whimsical “dumpling-tossing” theme to online audiences, combining vibrant Asian-inspired aesthetics with a deep mathematical model designed for high-engagement sessions.
The Three-Pot Mechanic & Seven Feature Combinations
At the core of the gameplay is the persistent pot system. Landing specific colored coins fuels three separate pots—Yummy, Spicy, and Upsized. These pots can trigger individually or in any combination, leading to seven distinct bonus paths.
| Feature Mode | Gameplay Enhancement |
| Yummy Mode | Increases the Hold & Spin respin counter from 3 to 4, significantly extending bonus life. |
| Spicy Mode | Introduces Chilli multipliers; landing a pepper adds its cash value to every symbol currently held on the board. |
| Upsized Mode | Unlocks a Dual Grid (two reel sets) for the Hold & Spin round, doubling the win potential. |
| Combined Modes | Triggering all three at once creates the “Mega Bonus,” featuring dual grids, 4 respins, and value-boosting peppers. |
Innovation: The Stack N’ Hit
Feature
Unlike traditional Hold & Spin mechanics where symbols simply lock until the round ends, Tasty Treasures introduces the Stack N’ Hit
evolution.
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Reel Clearing: When a vertical reel is filled with Bun symbols, the prizes are instantly collected, and the reel is cleared.
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Persistent Respins: Clearing a reel creates open spaces for new prizes to land, allowing the bonus round to continue far longer than standard industry alternatives.
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The Path to Grand: Each cleared reel activates a “Pepper Tracker” above it. Lighting up all five trackers awards the Grand Progressive Jackpot.
Jackpot Tiers & Base Game Depth
Operators benefit from a versatile math model that supports both consistent base-game performance and high-volatility jackpot chases.
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Progressive Jackpots: Grand and Major tiers for life-changing win potential.
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Fixed Jackpots: Minor and Mini tiers awarded through symbols landing during features.
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Nudge Wilds: In the base game, Wild symbols can nudge to cover entire reels, assisting in achieving the 243-way payouts.
“Big Hot Flaming Pots: Tasty Treasures carries forward a brand that has already made its mark in land-based venues,” says Michael Maokhamphiou, Studio Director at Lightning Box. “This release offers operators a flexible, high-performing title that combines familiarity with fresh layers of engagement.”
The post Big Hot Flaming Pots: Tasty Treasures – Lightning Box Brings Land-Based Hit Online appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
Blask Index
How Venezuela’s iGaming market is reacting to US pressure
Blask data indicates Venezuela’s iGaming demand remained stable in the initial days following the US operation in Caracas.
On 3 January, US forces detained Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, transporting him from Caracas to face prosecution in New York. The raid came after months of intensifying American pressure throughout 2025 — naval presence, targeted strikes, and a fresh sanctions package.
For Venezuela’s iGaming sector, the disruption poses a critical question: will demand collapse, or adapt?
First results
Blask’s daily Index remained within a tight corridor from 1–4 January, hovering in the high-200K zone. It dropped 5% to 257.4K on the day of the operation, before recovering the next day.

The data reveals no abrupt demand shift during this period. A slight decline sits within Venezuela’s normal daily fluctuations and does not point to a fundamental market change.
Rapid expansion, growing dominance
Venezuela stood out as one of iGaming’s strongest demand gainers in 2025. Blask Index surged 134.9% year-on-year — the second-highest growth worldwide.

This expansion came alongside increasing market dominance. By December, Triunfo Bet commanded 59% of Blask’s BAP (Brand Accumulated Power, measuring a brand’s portion of total user interest nationally), gaining 15 percentage points since January. The top three brands collectively reached over 85%, up 11 points.
The post How Venezuela’s iGaming market is reacting to US pressure appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.
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