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Attending iGaming industry events has been a big part of my life for nearly 20 years now, including just about every installment of Clarion’s iGB L!VE, a rebrand of the iGaming Super Show. So many things have changed over the course of those years, but one thing still remains the same—the most exciting area within iGaming for me is in startups—it’s full of innovation and utilization of future tech.
Last month, I was invited to attend iGB L!VE in Amsterdam and host the Startup LaunchPad (think Dragon’s Den), which included five judges in the gaming investment space and five startups. The startups had 12 minutes each to present their ideas, including taking questions from the judges. These startups included:
Match Hype: Short-form video content creator that captures the essence of every thrilling moment in sports.
Swap Profit: A brand new marketplace (starting with sports betting) that will introduce the concept of hedging to the masses by allowing users to swap a percentage of potential earnings in an event with the potential earnings in someone else’s event.
Car Crash by AMARIX: A new game that combines cutting-edge mechanics, player-centric innovations and advanced tournament features.
SavageTech GmbH: The world’s first true gamified retention engine.
Lucky Lady Games: Lady Luck Casino brings innovation and the future to social and sweepstakes casinos.
Naturally, I was watching the startup pitches through a blockchain and future-tech lens and was delighted to hear multiple mentions of blockchain-powered tech and artificial intelligence (AI).
Lou Stadler, CEO of Swap Profit, mentioned blockchain in his presentation and cited smart contracts as a way to guarantee payouts and store sensitive user data on the blockchain for permissioned access. Filip Koubek of Match Hype talked on his advanced AI technology that analyses sporting events in real-time, generating insightful and engaging content for users. Sandra Wong of Lucky Lady Games presented various interactive innovations such as AI-powered NPCs (“Non-Player Characters” in a video game), tokenized loyalty rewards and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
The winner of this year’s Startup LaunchPad was Match Hype, taking home a prize of €6,000 ($6,546), and I had the honor of passing him the trophy on stage. It was an amazing experience all around, such a positive energy and all the pitches were fantastic.
According to the Startup LaunchPad organizer, next year’s installment will be even bigger and better. I can’t wait to see the progress that iGaming entrepreneurs make in supercharging their projects with the latest and greatest future tech.
Something else I look forward to is iGB L!VE’s move to London in 2025 is a big change for us who have been attending all the iGB LIVE installments in Amsterdam and before that the 2011 iGaming SUPER Show in Dublin (CalvinAyre.com’s “Seven Deadly Sins” 1 year anniversary party, who remembers?!) and before that the very first 2010 iGaming SUPER Show in Prague (CalvinAyre.com’s “MadMax” launch party, who remembers???!!!)
To celebrate iGB L!VE’s move to London, the organizers put together an amazing video with “iGB Originals” including myself, a tribute to the journey iGB Live/iGaming SUPER Show has been on over the past 14 years.
As Alex Pratt, Clarion Event’s Managing Director, narrates in the video, London is “a city steeped in entrepreneurial spirit with the beating heart of commerce etched into its soul. A city that constantly reinvents itself to be at the cutting edge of culture, technology, fashion and art.”
What I love about this is Pratt touches on some of the very reasons why the London Blockchain Conference decided to make a permanent home in London.
With the amazing memories of iGB L!VE and LBC 2024 behind me, I am beyond excited to attend both events next year in London: iGB Live from July 1-4 and LBC (dates yet to be announced). These two events promise to highlight startups that are utilizing amazing technology, such as blockchain and AI, to make the world a better, safer and more fun place for all.
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