Interactive
Germany – Launchpad to nurture visionary start-ups at EiG
By Phil - 21 September 2017
Start-up iGaming businesses have until September 22 to submit their entries to the 2017 EiG Launchpad competition which is being organised in partnership with Clarion’s Technology Partner, GamCrowd.
The Dragon’s Den style competition, which has become a talking point of EiG, features up to five selected start-ups, who pitch their companies live to a panel of judges from the investment community, as well as a room full of iGaming executives. In addition to getting the opportunity to pitch to industry experts, the finalists will have the opportunity to showcase their company at the Start-Up Village with a stand on the EiG show floor.
Launchpad has been running as part of EiG since 2008 and has grown in status to become a respected, stand alone brand helping new companies looking to raise capital and gain industry exposure. The Launchpad initiative, which also runs at GiGse, EiG’s sister event in North America, has debuted many successful start-ups, including: Colossus Bets; FSB Tech; Fresh8 Gaming; Imperus (now Tangelo Games); BlueBat (now part of GreenTube); NumberFire (acquired by FanDuel); Casino VR and Lucky VR.
1SpinMillionaire, the winning LaunchPad pitch at EiG 2016, redefined the lottery status quo as the company’s Martin Cagalinec, explained: “The idea behind it is very simple, which is the key to its success. It does not matter if the user plays a slot, makes a bet in sport, plays poker or bets on a virtual dog race. Every time he or she wagers, they get a 1SM ticket for free. 1SM connects content providers through the lottery on top of it. And the best bit about it is that it also works outside of the gaming industry. This is where we see the big potential. Because it does not matter what you buy – flowers, milk, a taxi ride, dinner at restaurant, travel or cinema tickets – you can get a 1SM ticket for free. In a standard lottery, you have to pay for the ticket, but in our lottery you never pay. Our business model is to charge operators or retailers a small fee, not the user.”
He added: “Winning Launchpad 2016 helped us mostly in three fields: marketing the product, creating brand awareness and facilitating contact with lots of clients. Launchpad is a well known brand in the gaming industry and people really react positively to it. From our experience it’s definitely worth participating.”
EiG, one of the most anticipated b2b events on the gaming industry calendar, is being held at The Arena Berlin, 30 October – 1 November. The theme for 2017, Generation Hybrid, will focus on key challenges and opportunities facing the I-Gaming industry, including Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain and how to engage with Generation Z.
