Max Dubossarsky, COO, Betinvest.

When was Betinvest founded, and what was the aim of the company from day one?

The foundations for the company we now know as Betinvest were laid in 1999. Back then, it was just a small team who were yet to gain any relevant experience, but who had the determination and bravery to build a sports betting business from scratch. At first there were just a few betting shops and the company was exclusively land-based. Over time, we created and expanded our teams of traders, IT specialists, risk managers, customer support managers, etc. The company began to operate online and has continued to go from strength to strength.

The Betinvest brand itself, that is the company everyone knows as a provider of sports betting solutions, was registered in January 2013. This decision was motivated by the knowledge, experience and proficiency that we had gained and were now ready to share with other operators. It was easy for us to do this, having all the resources, technology and industry insights we needed right there in-house.

In terms of our goals, once you’ve gathered a lot of knowledge and experience through trial and error, at some point you realise that it’s time to share your findings with others. Initially, our goal was to enable others, with the support of an experienced partner, to easily and properly launch their own betting business – something we had once done from scratch.

Of course, the main indication of success for a business is profit. We understood that, by providing operators with a high-quality product and helping them to earn more, we would also see an increase in our own profits.

In addition to this, when people come to work in our vibrant industry, they rarely decide to leave it. It’s a very engaging industry for consumers, operators and providers. The next goal we decided to set for ourselves was to develop the industry across the globe: to make it more technologically advanced and accessible to every player, and to make the gaming experience safer and more interesting.

Has your focus changed over the last few years?

Betinvest’s main focus has always been on innovation, players and markets, which reflects the company’s spirit and core values. Whilst keeping our focus stable, we demonstrate our flexibility by adapting our business strategy and rethinking our approach to product delivery. Given that the industry is always changing, vendors and operators must be prepared to alter the way they work at any moment in order to fight the competition. This is the principle we follow when setting targets and goals: stay focused on innovation, markets and players, but be flexible in your business approach. A shining example of this principle in action is our new approach of providing Sportsbook as a Service. Delivering common products in a different, more advanced way demonstrates our understanding of the need for flexibility in this ever-changing industry. 

How often do you have to review the direction of the company is taking and alter it based upon player trends?

Following on from the previous question, I want to emphasise that being a sports betting provider and operator nowadays means being as flexible as possible. We’re keeping an eye on the latest innovations and improving our own technologies accordingly. Players, their habits and preferences are also changing, so we need to review what we offer to suit their needs. It’s an ongoing process. 

What were Betinvest’s main commercial highlights in 2019?

In 2019, we proved ourselves to be an innovator in the industry by bringing our brand-new product Sportsbook as a Service (iFrame API) to the market, which has turned out to be one of our biggest revenue drivers. As well as seeing a growth in profits from our existing products and partners, our SaaS solution has helped to expand our client network, which has, in turn, brought positive results. If we consider our revenue, we saw a 27% increase in 2019 compared to 2018 and the net revenue also shows a 9% improvement on last year. 

We’re thrilled to see these immediate results, but also expect to see commercial success in the long term as a result of our continuous investments in innovations and people.

Which markets and regions are of particular interest to Betinvest?

At Betinvest, we’ve got eyes on all the markets around the world. The iGaming industry is highly dynamic and its direction can change in next to no time, so it’s crucially important for operators and vendors to monitor the development of markets in order to recognise potentially propitious markets in good time. That’s exactly what we do. Whilst our core markets are in Europe and the CIS – this is where our focus is centred – we don’t underestimate the importance of markets in developing countries, such as Latin America, Asia and Africa. This approach is fully supported by our in-depth research into these markets and our expanding network of partners and potential clients in those locations. Participating in leading industry events in Colombia, Peru and Brazil has given us a clear idea about what to expect from these markets in terms of regulations, gaming style and growth. We also benefitted greatly from visiting Asia-related events, meeting local industry influencers and gaining insights about how those markets are developing and what operators’ biggest fears are. When it comes to Africa, we’re eager to see how this market prepares for the growth of the industry since the demand for betting opportunities there is huge and this, we are sure, will lead to technological progress in the region. 

These new markets have not been fully explored or established yet, but this is only the beginning for their betting industries and we’re keen to play our part.