It is now a year since Kambi completed its acquisition of Shape Games, and the pair have enjoyed commercial success across several key markets in the last 12 months as the tech provider continues to grow its presence in the US.
Kambi SVP Sales, Sarah Robertson, and Shape Games CCO, Morten Tonnesen, explained the importance of investing in a powerful sportsbook and gaming product in key regulated global markets, particularly as consolidation continues.
A major milestone for Kambi this year was reached when it agreed a deal with Bally’s to provide its sportsbook platform for the new Bally Bet that was relaunched in the last few weeks.
This deal, in Robertson’s mind, highlighted the need for operators to have a “really strong product” to succeed in the US market, given the intense competition faced there. She stressed that, for most operators outside the big giants of the industry, investing in a powerful external tech stack is essential for success.
Robertson explained: “We also have seen a lot of consolidation in the existing regulated markets in which we work, particularly in the US end. This presents a very good business case for Kambi because you have to have a strong product to compete in these markets.
“All of these markets, especially in the US and Europe, are becoming more and more regulated. We have been seeing changes in the Netherlands, in Sweden, there are new regulations in the UK. Having a strong product that is engaging for customers but is also compliant is going to be paramount.
“I think the undertaking to get that done is huge, and both Kambi and Shape have done a lot of work over the last few years to make sure our technology can scale across many different regulations. I think that’s been core to our success and to our continued development.”
As aforementioned it is now a year since Kambi acquired the front-end gaming firm Shape Games, though the two were working closely before the deal. Tonnesson explained that the last 12 months have been used to develop and fully integrate the pair’s technologies to create a more efficient ecosystem.
Shape’s CCO explained that the integration has allowed it access to the range of Kambi clients and helped to drive better results in the process.
“We were already working strongly together before the acquisition and now we have an even better way of working together with the shared ownership, we’ve identified even more how to optimize technology and have even better access to Kambi’s vast amount of clients,” he explained.
“We’ve seen the ability to go together deliver a better result overall, both for our customers and the two companies together.”
