mkodo rolled out its GeoLocs geolocation service to the wider market back in January but, in reality, the technology has been in development and use for around a decade. Finally rolling the solution out to a wide market across North American markets has offered the firm ample opportunity for growth in the region.
But why wait until 2023 to be a challenger brand in the geolocation solution sector? Well, for Will Whitehead, Commercial Director at mkodo, it is a simple answer. As more jurisdictions switch on regulated online gambling, the requirement for sound geolocation technology has never been greater.
Speaking to SBC Media at SBC Summit Barcelona, Whitehead explained: “With more states opening up and Ontario opening up last year, which was a game changer, all operators need geolocation solution. That’s why we really started pushing GeoLocs out to the market.
“It’s become clear that there’s definitely a requirement for more alternative solutions and better competition the existing players. As more jurisdictions open up and more operators get their licenses, I think that more opportunities will come our way.”
In North America, there have been a small number of established incumbent providers of geolocation technology which has caused intense competition, but mkodo feels the strength of its product will stand it in good stead to compete in this environment.
The firm has targeted the Ontario market as one that it aims to be a dominant player in. mkodo counts OLG, the single largest operator in the market, as one of its clients as well as a whole range of international operators that descended upon Ontario last year.
Whitehead added: “We’ve seen exponential growth in the last year or so. A lot of our focus and opportunity has been around the Ontario market, which has been great. We’re now doing crazy numbers. 18 million look-ups per day and around 50% of all geolocation. lookups within Ontario come from the mkodo platform.
“We’re still continuing to evolve the product as we’ve really noticed that there’s a demand for great user experience when it comes to geolocation. So we’re really focusing on that as well.”
While 2023 has been a “record year” for mkodo through the rollout of its GeoLocs technology as well as counting upon several new clients for its legacy front-end website and native app business, the firm is eyeing up further success in 2024.
It has already secured a deal with the UK National Lottery ahead of the changeover of licensee early next year and it will reveal further North American clients in the coming weeks and months.
The Commercial Director concluded: “We’ve got more opportunities and more clients going live in more states in North America as well. So we went live in eight states across North America this year, and we’re hoping to double that next year. So the footprint is expanding quite significantly in the North American market and we’re certainly being a big part of that. So next year is going to be, I hope, the best year that mkodo has seen.”
