This week in B2B news (22 April)

Pragmatic Play expands South African footprint with Hollywoodbets deal

Content provider Pragmatic Play has extended its reach in the South African market by partnering with sports betting operator Hollywoodbets.

This deal will see Pragmatic Play supply its complete portfolio of slot games, including recent releases to the operator. In addition to this, Pragmatic Play will launch its complete array of scratchcard games with Hollywoodbets.

Yossi Barzely, chief business development officer at Pragmatic Play, said: “South Africa, while being well-established, still holds many opportunities for suppliers and partnering with its top operator simply refines that scope. Hollywoodbets is exactly the type of tier-one client we look to, in assisting us with our regional growth ambitions and we’re delighted to partner with them.”

Dermot O’Connell, Hollywoodbets betting operations manager, said: “At Hollywoodbets, we strive to offer our customers premium entertainment and experiences that bring real value, and in Pragmatic Play we have found the ideal partner to enhance our existing portfolio of games.

“This partnership will complement our existing product range, bringing our customers an array of new games,” he added.

Optimove appoints Scott McNabb as VP of revenue, Americas

CRM marketing platform Optimove has announced Scott McNabb’s appointment as the company’s VP of revenue for the Americas operation.

McNabb has led multiple software as a service (SaaS) martech companies to notable success. He was the CRO for Exponea, a CDP solution and before that was the VP of global enterprise sales for Integrate and SVP of global sales for PathFactory.

CEO and founder of Optimove Pini Yakuel said: “We’re thrilled to welcome Scott to Optimove, to take on the Americas operation. Scott is a key addition to the team. His experience and knowledge are unrivalled and will play a major role in our efforts to scale our sales operations and expand our portfolio into new states, verticals and markets.”

McNabb added: “I’m excited to join Optimove and play a major role in the company’s rapid growth efforts in the Americas. I would like to thank the Exponea team, I thoroughly enjoyed my time there and I am looking forward to my next challenge at Optimove.

“Having been at the forefront of the sales of many different brands, I can safely say that Optimove is a company with next-generation, game-changing AI technology and excellent prospects,” he continued.

Playson expands Italian foothold with Tuko Productions

Playson has agreed a deal to supply its casino content with Italian platform provider Tuko Productions.

Tuko’s Tuko Hub System (THS) content aggregation platform will gain Playson’s collection of titles as part of this new partnership.

Simona Lanzoni, business development manager at Playson, said: “We’re excited to have agreed a content integration deal with Tuko Productions, with its aggregation platform holding an impressive reach across Italy.

“The deal further cements Playson as a leading supplier in Italy, allowing us to offer our thrilling collection to more players and attract new audiences in the process.”

Vincenzo Tancredi, sales director at Tuko Productions, added: “We’re glad to have Playson onboard – integrating their immersive titles that enhance player engagement and retention is a huge bonus.

“Our platform features some of the industry’s best titles, therefore, to maintain a strong product offering, it’s vital that we continue teaming up with premium suppliers like Playson.”

Björn Krantz takes over as CEO of Yggdrasil

Yggdrasil has confirmed the promotion of global market operations chief Björn Krantz as its new CEO, as the supplier targets an increasingly globalised business.

Krantz is a veteran of the industry, having spent a decade at NetEnt in a variety of C-level roles, including COO. Krantz joined Yggdrasil in January 2020 as head of the supplier’s publishing division and has most recently held the title of chief of global market operations.

Krantz replaces Yggdrasil’s founder Fredrik Elmqvist, who is transitioning into a more hands-off role on the board of directors at the firm.

Elmqvist said: “Björn is well known to the industry as his delivery track record is amazing, and he has been a successful executive leader in rapid global growth environments for a very long time.

“In the past two years, Björn has been heavily involved in shaping and building Yggdrasil’s global market operations and being a key contributor to the company’s growth strategy and execution planning.

“The time is now ripe to execute this transition, and it’s a great day for the board, myself, and the entire company to see Björn take over the helm,” he concluded.

Krantz added: “It’s with great [humility] I am taking over as CEO after Fredrik. I have enormous respect for the history, the company’s legacy and its awesome culture. It’s all about the people and building strong and winning teams, and it’s a great pleasure for me to have such talented and motivated people around me every day.

Stakelogic Live inks major distribution deal with Bragg’s Oryx Gaming

The live dealer arm of content provider Stakelogic, Stakelogic Live, has signed a major distribution deal with operators that are powered by Oryx Gaming.

As a result of this deal, all of Stakelogic Live’s titles will be made available to the hundreds of operators to whom it provides its services around the world via the Oryx Hub distribution platform.

Stephan van den Oetelaar, CEO at Stakelogic, said: “We have already generated incredible traction with our growing suite of live casino games, but this deal with Oryx Gaming will launch us into the stratosphere.”

Ivica Jovanovski, head of aggregation at Oryx Gaming, said: “Stakelogic Live has taken the market by storm in a very short space of time with its premium live dealer games, so adding them to our portfolio was an absolute must. This is a great partnership for Oryx, our operator partners and, of course, their players.”

White Hat Studios pens content deal with Tipico US

White Hat Studios, the content division of igaming platform provider White Hat Gaming, has further expanded in the US after striking a deal with Tipico US.

This deal will see Tipico’s players in New Jersey and future states gain access to White Hat Studios’ array of branded slot games, jackpot games and Megaways titles.

Daniel Lechner, VP of sales and marketing at White Hat Studios, said: “We’re delighted to partner with Tipico as the company expands in the US casino market.

“Firmly established as one of the largest and most respected global gaming operators, we can’t wait to see how the Tipico player base receives our titles.”

Adrian Vella, CEO of Tipico US, said: “We are excited to begin our partnership with White Hat Studios, adding their content to our fast-growing proprietary online casino offering.

“We’re confident that our customers will love White Hat’s offering with a proven track record in the regulated US market and their well-known catalogue of branded games.”

Flows signs regulated Swiss operator Pasino.ch part of leading European operator Groupe Partouche

Pasino.ch has signed an agreement with innovation platform Flows. This partnership allows the team at Pasino.ch to be able to build new features and workflows without coding as well as accelerate tech delivery, integrations and change across the business.

Rupert Ecker, MD at Pasino.ch “Flows innovation platform has been on our radar since their launch and I’m very happy to have now signed and be able to start working with James and his team to help accelerate and drive digital innovation here at Pasino.ch.”

James King, CEO at Flows, said: “We’re really excited to have partnered with Pasino and to be supporting the digital arm of one of the largest and most successful casino groups in Europe as they grow within the regulated Swiss market.”