Aspire Global’s revenues increased by 32.1%, from €24.7m to €32.8m in Q2 2019, spurring growth in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) by 7.2%, from €5.7m to €6.1m. The performance of the group was considerably lifted by B2B revenues jumping by 57.5%, from €12.4m to €19.5m, constituting 59.6% of total revenues.

“Our B2B operations have been performing very strongly recently, which is very satisfying because we are bearing the fruits of all the hard work we have done in the last two to three years. Our product development teams have been designing and launching great new features for our partners and we have continued to focus on providing the best CRM [customer relationship management] system in the business so our operators can maximise lifetime values and reduce churn,” Aspire Global CEO Tsachi Maimon tells Business Malta.

Although the CEO could not reveal too much about their plans and expectations for the future — for Aspire being a public company — Mr Maimon believes the trend is clear: “We will strengthen our current portfolio of partners and add new ones to our platform; while enabling them to offer new products and features to their players,” the CEO tells BM.

With such a strong business-to-business (B2B) arm, one would wonder how strong the muscles are on the business-to-customer (B2C) limb. “We believe the way we have managed to combine our B2C work with our B2B activities is one of the reasons we have grown so successfully in recent years. We have a team that is focussed on B2C because like every other strong operator in the market we want Karamba to compete with the biggest names out there,” Mr Maimon breaks it down.

Success around Karamba has enabled Aspire Global to grow and perform well as a company, which the company sees has resulted in a strong showcase for the B2B partners of the firm. “They can see what our platform is capable of and when potential B2B partners come to us, we can show them the quality of our platform and when they sign with us they often finish the conversation by saying they want ‘Karamba-style success’,” according to the CEO.

M&A to fuel further growth

Aspire has recently agreed to acquire 100% of the shares in GMS Entertainment Limited, owner of the B2B group Pariplay, for approximately €13.1m in cash. Pariplay operates a game aggregator platform globally, including their own game studios, providing operators with access to thousands of game titles from leading game producers.

“Our M&A strategy will focus on B2B technology companies that can add volume and can further contribute to Aspire.”

“Pariplay will play a very important and strategic role in Aspire Global’s operations. Strategically, it will enable us to increase our presence across the value chain of the iGaming industry. As for the United States, Pariplay is already licensed to operate in New Jersey. It represents a major advantage over other games aggregators and studios and will act as a spearhead for potential moves Aspire Global might make in the US market in the future,” the CEO says.

When Aspire announced the planned acquisition, the firm tagged it as a “crucial” moment in gaining control of another section in the iGaming value chain. The transaction should be closed during Q3 2019, with a positive effect on the company’s EBITDA as of 2020. For 2019, however, the transaction is not expected to have any material effect on financial results. Nevertheless, Aspire sees the possibility of further mergers and acquisitions activities (M&A).

“Pariplay is the first of a number of acquisitions we have planned as a group. We have been very ambitious and thanks to our successful operations and performance we have cash in the bank that we plan to use. Our M&A strategy will focus on B2B technology companies that can add volume and can further contribute to Aspire. We want to control more steps within the iGaming value chain so that we have more control and can save costs in the process, while also growing revenues through operations outside of our platform,” according to Mr Maimon.

Despite some busy months behind, Aspire Global does not appear to take a rest, in fact, the company is eyeing further expansion. “Our vision is to enable our partners to achieve their full potential. There are many ways of doing this: launching more partners, enabling them to have a larger product offering in store with additional verticals that would allow them to launch into more markets. Our partners are part of our roadmap and future vision and will play a key role in both Aspire Global’s growth and their own,” Mr Maimon concludes.

The post Aspire Global bets on further growth, plans more M&A first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

The consulate aims to engender opportunities for Maltese-registered companies to exhibit at the SiGMA shows in Manila and to foster a connection with Philippine companies as well as build-up the event in the coming months. In addition, it seeks to promote the Philippines as a business and holiday destination with the end view to strengthen relationships between Malta and the Philippines. 

“Having established the consulate in January 2016 a lot of progress has been made in increasing awareness of the Philippines both as a Holiday Destination but also as a business gateway to the rest of Asia,” said Roger A. Strickland Jr, Philippine Consul to Malta. “The Philippines does not disappoint all those travellers who go the extra mile to visit it and absolutely nothing compares to the rich and abundant diverse natural resources the Philippines has to offer. What also makes the Philippines a truly wonderful country is the Filipino’s themselves thanks to their abundant talent, courtesy and warm hospitality,” he added.

“The Filipino workers hold a variety of skills, are bilingual, have a good educational level and are highly competent exhibiting highly reliable work ethics. We are very pleased to support SIGMA 2020 in Manila and the Consulate is available for any information that travellers or businesses might need in considering their options for their Asia focused business,” Mr Strickland added.  

Aside from taking on a supportive role for European companies looking to forge closer relations with their Asian counterparts, SiGMA hopes that the launch of the Manila 2020 will bring benefits to the hotspot, with the introduction of a number of international clients to the Asia region exerting a strong economic impact on the area.

Furthermore, this eastward move of the group capitalises on the strong interest in Asia for iGaming and emerging technologies, with an eye towards the growing value there for companies looking to move into up-and-coming iGaming markets. 

Therefore, SiGMA is looking forward to strengthening trade ties, bringing fresh opportunities for business to European affiliates, operators, and suppliers.

“We’re going to help put the spotlight on the Philippines, embracing the best of the iGaming and tech communities, with the hope that these companies that we bring there will end up setting up offices and getting a licence in the Philippines.  We do not just want to react to what’s going on out there, but we want to take an active, leading role in not only bringing the Asian and European community together but also building long-lasting commercial opportunities,” said Eman Pulis, CEO of SiGMA Group.  

The show in Manila expects to welcome over 600 exhibitors and 11,000 attendees from across the globe for two days of conferences and workshops, and premier networking events.

SiGMA Group recently announced dates for two shows in Manila for 2020, which will feature exhibits from the iGaming and the blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI) sectors, respectively.

The post SiGMA Group receives support from consulate first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

SOL Networks is an umbrella brand for 15+ projects. The board of Dating.com took this “strategic” decision, during the board meeting in Malta in the spring of 2019. The group plans to expand through mergers and acquisitions (M&A) deals, which will be announced in the near future.  

“Countless dating startups have popped up in recent years and we are eager to find ones that are a good fit for Dating.com Group’s ambitious goals,” said Alla Gubenko, board director in Dating.com Group. “Our key markets are Asia and the US, for their growth potential. We would love to make deals with companies targeting those areas in creative ways,” he added.

The company is developing its inorganic investment strategy and is looking to partner with early and late-stage companies in online dating, social interaction and live streaming markets, according to the press release.

Group anticipates expanding markets

Dating.com Group expects the market to grow to $3.74b in developed markets, with future growth expected in developing markets, speakers of the group announced during GDI Singapore Dating Conference 2019 – Global Dating Insights held on 13-14 May, based on research they carried out.

For instance, in China, dating companies have earned around $50m in revenue from mobile application downloads. In India, online dating platform Tinder was the top-grossing app on Google Play and the second-highest on Apple’s App Store at the end of 2018.

“The iPhone’s disruptive potential cannot be overstated. The way people conduct their lives and interact is evolving. Companies must provide creative, tailored solutions to prosper in the next decade,” said Yuri Papadin, Head of M&A and Corporate Development at Dating.com Group.

Focusing on app improvements, the research also revealed that customers are looking for more than “superficial pictures” usually posted on such platforms and the swiping-nature of selecting date parties. Therefore, Badoo — another dating platform — is preparing to switch “swiping” for live streaming after a survey of users found that 68% dislike swiping. Tinder has also partnered with Foursquare to set up “real-life” dates, the press statement says.

“It was great sharing our insights at the GDI conference. Since the market may be cooling a bit, it is more important than ever that companies do their homework and tailor dating platforms to a specific niche,” said Maria Sullivan, the head of the Dating.com Group’s New York office.

Dating.com Group is a global social discovery platform, enabling people from around the globe to connect through the power of shared interests and mutual benefits. Dating.com Group has offices in seven countries and a team of over 500 professionals and over 73 million users.

SOL Networks is an international internet-holding company headquartered in Malta. It specialises in the creation and promotion of websites where users can expand their social and business connections.

The post Dating.com to dip toe in expanding US, Asian markets first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

With the delayed deadline for a Brexit deal to 31 October, uncertainties around the United Kingdom leaving the bloc have not settled yet. Nevertheless, Revolut says they prepared for any possible scenario. “If the United Kingdom and the European Union strike a deal, or if there’s a period of transitional relief, then we would continue to passport our UK-authorised permissions — via Revolut Ltd — across Europe, and there would be no action required on our customers’ side,” Mr Litsikakis tells BM.

Should the two parties be unable to reach a deal, Revolut has plans in the pipeline. Last year, Revolut Payments UAB was set up in preparation for a no-deal Brexit scenario. Revolut says that although this entity is fully operational, it is only a precautionary measure, for now. “We are pleased to confirm that this new entity is now in beta phase. As we all sit and wait to see what happens, mitigating any disruption to your services is our paramount concern. We will only switch our EEA-based customers over to this new entity in the event of a no-deal scenario,” the country manager responsible for Malta says.

Although an uncertain environment might linger on until at least the 31 October deadline, Revolut says that European customers should rest assured. “We want to assure all of our customers in Europe that we have taken the necessary preparations to ensure that they can continue to use Revolut in the same way, whatever the outcome,” the country manager underscores.

A market of ‘phenomenal’ growth

It is almost impossible to line up for payment at any POS in Malta, seeing not a single individual flashing a Revolut card. It is equally unlikely to carry out a conversation with acquaintances without bumping into Revolut card holders, or people who have at least heard about the concept. What makes the Maltese land such fertile soil for a fintech company such as Revolut?

“The Maltese market is extremely important to Revolut due to a large number of expats, migrant workers and professionals transferring money in and out of the country. So far, Revolut has proved to be incredibly popular in Malta, with over 90,000 customers signed up to date, that is around one-fifth of the population. We are signing up around 200 customers per day and only expect that to increase. Six months ago we only had around 30,000 customers in Malta, so the growth has been phenomenal,” Mr Litsikakis says.

“Revolut has proved to be incredibly popular in Malta, with over 90,000 customers signed up to date, that is around one-fifth of the population. We are signing up around 200 customers per day,”

says Revolut’s Dimitris Litsikakis.

Revolut believes its popularity lies in the “modern design” that their mobile application offers for users, as well as the fact that they issue no hidden fees and sport responsive customer service. Additional features such as instant payment notifications, automatic spending categorisation, budgeting tools, spare change saving and enhanced security further boost their prestige in the eyes of users, the company believes.

Furthermore, Revolut allows users to buy and sell a selection of cryptocurrencies, as well as to get pay-per-day travel insurance through their app. Registration for a Revolut account takes places in approximately ten minutes, and once an account is opened, users can send, spend and exchange 29 currencies in-app and spend fee-free globally in over 150 currencies, up to a threshold of £200 every month on the free plan.

Revolut’s expansion comes in a time when people appear, albeit slowly, to become more open to fintech solutions, as well as they are becoming more conscious about taking elevated control over their finances. “Fintechs are gaining in popularity across the world due to a growing shift of consumers using their phones to handle their finances and demanding more from their banks. They are no longer happy to accept rubbish exchange rates and monthly fees. Fintechs, such as Revolut, offer an alternative to the big banks,” Mr Litsikakis says.

For fuelling further growth, Revolut is planning to host more RevRally [awareness-raising promotional] events this year in Malta to encourage more consumers to open accounts with the company. “In Europe, we currently have over 4.6 million customers and are building a European Growth Machine that will help us scale at speed in every European country where Revolut’s service is currently available to further boost our customer numbers,” the country manager tells BM.

Additionally, Revolut aims to grow out of Europe. They expect to expand into a number of global markets in the coming months, with foreseen launches in the United States, Canada, Singapore, Japan, Australia and New Zealand planned in 2019.

Revolut insists on unshaken compliance

The Telegraph broke the news on 28 February that Revolut was “accused of violating basic banking rules by failing to block thousands of potentially suspicious transactions on its platform,” the report writes. Citing documents The Telegraph says had acquired, the online daily reported that Revolut switched off its system flagging suspicious transfers.

This was briefly followed by news that CFO Peter O’Higgins had resigned from his position at the company. On top of this, Revolut ran into technical issues on 1 March, affecting their app’s functionality including top-ups, exchanges and other features. Revolut’s engineers fixed the issues in a matter of minutes. Nevertheless, some Maltese customers, reading international news and swiftly jumping to unsubstantiated conclusions, ran to ATMs quickly withdrawing money, in the belief that Revolut was going down.

Nikolay Storonsky, the founding CEO of Revolut, soon after the news broke denied reports suggesting that his company would have been involved in activities raising the issue of possible “money laundering”. He also said that no connection could be found between the resignation of his company’s finance chief and the alleged “money laundering”, despite what news reports suggested.

Business Malta asked Revolut to explain the events of end-February and early-March from their perspective. “In the middle of last year, we rolled out a new sanctions screening system in parallel with our existing systems and controls. The new system required recalibration on the basis that it was creating some false positive cases (pending payments),” Mr Litsikakis tells BM about the roots of the events. During this period, Revolut says their 200-strong compliance team reviewed all payments on their platform. “The new system and subsequent recalibration had nothing to do with money laundering, and we want to make it abundantly clear that there were no breaches,” Mr Litsikakis puts his feet down.

“The new system and subsequent recalibration had nothing to do with money laundering, and we want to make it abundantly clear that there were no breaches,”

says Revolut’s Dimitris Litsikakis.

By the second week of March, the Telegraph substantially amended its article and issued a correction statement both online and in their print edition related to news they broke about Revolut.

“We would like to clarify that there never was any lapse in our anti-money laundering controls or our sanction screening process. It is also important to note that a number of articles erroneously conflated our anti-money laundering systems and our sanctions screening process,” Mr Litsikakis insists.

Business Malta was interested to learn about the magnitude of cash withdrawal in Malta at the time of unfavourable news stirring waters among its local users about the company; however, Revolut declined to disclose figures. “We do not share details of how much money is deposited in Revolut,” the company says.

The post Revolut readies intact services regardless of Brexit outcome, eyes further expansion first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

The agreement represents the expansion of Newgioco’s distribution footprint in regulated stores and establishments such as bars, coffee shops, convenience stores, betting shops and other route operations throughout southern Italy and Sicily.

“Once again our team in Europe lead by Alessandro Marcelli, boosted by the recent addition of Angelo Merola, a highly respected name throughout the regulated Italian gaming industry, have proven the value of incorporating our ELYS™ betting Platform by Odissea in the highly contested and vibrant Italian sports betting market,” commented Newgioco CEO Michele Ciavarella.

“As a result of our recently launched Angular™ JavaScript website framework, we expect a rapid go-to-market turnaround with bet processing starting in May 2019. Based upon their past performance, we anticipate an increase of approximately $350,000 in sports betting and $2 million in online Casino handle per month from this new operator,” he added.

The company conducts its business under the registered brand Newgioco primarily through its internet-based betting distribution network on its website, as well as retail neighbourhood betting shops situated throughout Italy.

The post Newgioco to fuel Italian expansion from Malta first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

Melita Italia will use Italy’s Open Fiber wholesale network to initially provide services in Catania, Palermo, Milan and Naples, before expanding to more than 30 cities and 3,000 sales points by the end of 2021. The venture is headed by former Telecom Italia CEO Riccardo Ruggiero, and is expected to create 100 new jobs, mostly based in Southern Italy.

“Melita has a great opportunity to grow in Italy as the country’s super-fast fibre internet network enters a phase of rapid expansion. Working together with Open Fiber, I am very much looking forward to this new and exciting challenge,” says Mr Ruggiero, Executive Chairman at Melita Italia.

Following the European launch of Plume by Melita in Malta in 2018, Melita Italia customers will become the second Melita group in Europe to benefit from Plume’s services bundle that provides access to highly personalized in-home experiences, the press statement promises. Plume membership includes Adaptive WiFiTM, HomePass guest access, advanced parental controls, the Plume app and SuperPods that combine to learn and adapt to the needs of the home to make WiFi faster, safer and more reliable, the statement adds.

“This is a significant milestone for Melita, a business built in Malta, which is now expanding into new markets. While our core business will remain in Malta, Italy presents an excellent opportunity for growth as millions of homes gain access to the Open Fiber network,” says Harald Rösch, CEO of Melita Ltd. “By combining the skills of our team in Malta — where we are innovative leaders in the provision of internet services and customer experience — with the market knowledge of Riccardo and his team, the future for Melita in Malta and Italy looks bright,” Mr Rösch adds.

The post Melita opens business in Italy, eyes expansion first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

“We are now taking the next step on our global expansion journey and apply for our first license in a Spanish-speaking country, Spain,” says Gustaf Hagman, CEO of LeoVegas Group.

Mr Hagman tags Spain as one of the fastest-growing markets in Europe. The CEO believes that due to his group’s technology and experience; they will be able to effectively adapt their business to regulated markets regardless of language and regulations.

As more than 470 million people speak Spanish, the company sees entering Spain as a first step to get into several Spanish-speaking countries, the press release notes.

The Spanish casino market grew by more than 30% in Q3 2018 compared to 2017, and it is projected to be worth approximately €1bn in 2019, according to estimates provided by H2 Gambling Capital data, which is one of the gambling industry’s leading providers of figures and analyses. The Swedish market, in comparison, is worth approximately €1.4bn.

“Today only about 11% of all gaming in Spain is conducted online, compared with 52% in Sweden. Spain’s online gaming market is experiencing strong growth as more and more gaming is being conducted online. The most recent figures from the Spanish gambling authority show that the casino segment grew by 30% in Q3 2018 compared with the same period last year,” LeoVegas notes in the press release.

LeoVegas holds gaming licences in Malta, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Italy, Sweden, Ireland and now awaits for Spain.

LeoVegas’s announcement comes very shortly after a cut in gross gaming revenue from 25% to 20% has been approved by the Spanish government. LeoVegas appears to pop up as a fierce competitor of GiG in the market with a jumpstart, which announced similar plans very recently for the second half of the year.

The post LeoVegas to enter Spanish market in Q1 first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.

As part of its licensing process, the company aims to certify its B2B technical platform and offer its services and solutions to external licensed operators in the Spanish market, according to the press release. The company is entering the Spanish market with both its B2C and B2B activities and is set to launch operations in the second half of the year.

Spain started regulating online gambling on a national level in 2011. Total Gross Gaming Revenue in Spain in 2017 was approximately $10bn, of which online gambling was 10%. Forecasts expect this to rise to more than 15% by 2023, the press release notes based on H2 Gambling Capital data, which is one of the gambling industry’s leading providers of data and analyses.

GiG’s announcement comes on time very shortly after a cut in gross gaming revenue from 25% to 20% has been approved by the Spanish government. Competition on the market might be quite harsh in 2019, as LeoVegas has recently announced similar plans.

The post GiG eyes expansion into Spanish market in H2 first appeared on The Malta Business Weekly.