Enlabs surrenders Swedish licence but vows to return

Enlabs has surrendered its Swedish online gambling and sports betting licence as the firm undertakes vital technical development work on its proprietary technology platform.

The Estonia-based operator, which operates the Optibet brand in the Swedish market, confirmed the news citing a “marginal positive impact” on earnings from the loss of its minor Swedish operations.

A message on the Optibet.se website read: “Enlabs has voluntarily sold the licences for commercial online gaming and odds in Sweden. Behind the scenes, we will focus on product development and improvement and will return to Sweden with the most powerful offer in the summer.

“All customer accounts with the remaining funds have been refunded to the customer and in the meantime our customer service is also available for any questions,” the firm added.

However, Enlabs has said it intends to apply for a new Swedish licence under the guise of an undisclosed group company created from its acquisition of former Swedish-licensed operator Global Gaming, which completed earlier this month.

The firm said it plans to launch “several dedicated brands” in the Swedish market by the summer of 2021.

“The Swedish market is of great interest to Enlabs,” Enlabs president and CEO George Ustinov said.

“However, our platform currently lacks support for the “Pay and Play” technology, which is absolutely necessary for some of the brands we intend to launch in Sweden.

“The internal development work has already begun, and we believe we have technology, licences and organisation with a clear marketing plan for the launch of several of our most important brands, in place by the summer of 2021,” he added.

In March, Enlabs was warned by the Swedish Gambling Authority to commence operations in the Swedish market by July 2020, or have its Swedish licence revoked.

Responding to this warning, the company launched the Optibet brand website in June.