GR8 Tech is striving to “unlock the whole igaming business potential” within Africa for existing clients, as the continent forms one strand of an expansion plan that demonstrates that the company is far from placing all of its eggs into one basket.
This aspiration was shared by CEO Evgen Belousov on a sprawling SBC Summit showfloor, however, eagerness was also evident when it comes to the plentiful opportunities that lie elsewhere.
In addition to elaborating on the company’s wide-spread ambitions regarding the global gambling ecosystem, Belousov also highlighted the critical components that must be kept in mind for those looking to enter new markets, and offered a deep update on the progress of a shift in senior structure that was rolled-out earlier in the year.
Africa, Asia and beyond
Fresh off the back of participating in a fireside chat titled ‘getting geo-specific in Africa: tailoring tech for success’, a logical starting point was established.
With overarching ambitions already showcased, Belousov cites one specific example in explaining how and why he believes that the company is well placed to achieve ultimate success within the region.
“At the moment, our ambition for Africa is that we will do our best to unlock the whole igaming business potential for our existing clients there,” he says.
“In the case of Mojabet, one of the important clients for us in the Africa region, we do everything. The scope includes a turnkey sportsbook and casino platform with a custom frontend, plus a comprehensive suite of services designed to ensure a superior gaming experience, including payment gateway, CRM, CMS, Unified back office, and so on.
“One might think that to have so many things covered by a single provider could be a bottleneck for the business, but in our case, it rather enables our clients, giving them a streamlined, convenient, and easy-to-use ecosystem.”
Furthermore, when asked about additional areas of focus where GR8 Tech is looking to deploy its expertise, one specific continent was mentioned as definitely being one of the priorities within the next few years.
“We have geo macro regions where we invest lots of our time and money. Several Asian countries are one of them because they’re quite different and the product gap is huge,” Belousov states.
This was emphasised via a comparison to various similar regions worldwide, whether that be Africa, Europe or South America, with Asia cited as being “a completely different world” in all areas.
“This starts with the translation of the language to how the website looks itself,” Belousov comments. “There is also different content that has to be used and integrated for different Asian countries.
“There’s a different mentality and mindset of the players, so we really invest a lot to prepare our product for countries such as India, Japan and so on and so forth.”
Tips for new market entrants
Increasing competition is commonplace across the industry, however, rising up and getting started is, quite understandably and logically, far from a simple process.
Numerous challenges can be encountered when looking to mark your mark on any specifically target jurisdiction, however, Belousov believes that there’s a trifecta of critical components that must be treated with the utmost care and attention.
“If we’re talking about operators that want to operate and that are launching their business,” he explains. “If they’re a newcomer and are just starting out in the igaming business, definitely the number one component is actually building a team. You have to have an experienced team that allows you to operate.
“It’s a competition. It’s a very tough global market. You have to have a perfect team to be able to compete and to win.”
Additionally, with investment and tech development identified as crucial in striving to gain that all important market share, the importance of selecting the correct partner that works for your business was highlighted as the next logical solution.
“The third one is quite, quite easy to understand,” he says. “It’s your marketing budget, and utilising your skills to spend it properly.”
Achieving a GR8 strategic vision
Earlier in the year, GR8 Tech disclosed a top-line reshuffle that saw Belousov pivot to focus on the strategic and visionary aspects. In turn, Artur Ashyrov and Oleksandr Feshchenko were confirmed as Deputy CEOs, with responsibilities enhanced to include identifying growth opportunities and developing actionable plans to address them.
With three months having passed since an official announcement was made, the conversation continued with an update on the progress made during this interim period.
“Most of the things are according to the plan,” he continues. “Basically, this shift means that I am able to concentrate on some of the more strategic initiatives within our company.
“It permitted me to clearly define our strategy and our UVP as a software and platform provider for the igaming niche.”
Amid the management transition, it was said that Belousov would become much more “focused on the strategic and visionary aspects of the business”. This, he noted, was a personal goal to place important tasks in defining the strategic vision of the company at the centre of his attention.
“We aim to make GR8 Tech a sportsbook-driven platform number one,” he notes. “This means that we want to achieve a situation when any operator in the igaming industry thinks about installing a sportsbook on their website or application, the first company that comes to their mind should be GR8 Tech.
“This is our vision. This is what we want to achieve by 2028.
“We have been through rigorous development processes. We understand what we have to do as a company to achieve our ambitions, and every team recognises how they can make an impact to achieve the strategic vision. It’s clear for us, and we are proceeding in this direction.”
As long-term business goals become the focal point of Belousov’s potential, the discussion drew to a close by elaborating on just what this entails and comprises.
In addition to reiterating a desire that the GR8 Tech sportsbook is the first that springs to mind by interested parties, a specific number related to the targets was also disclosed.
“We want to have a diversified business where every client is not bigger than 20 percent of our revenue,” he concludes.
“Additionally, in every geo, the concentration of revenue is to be no more than 40%. So it has to be diversified enough in terms of geo and diversified enough in terms of clients. Our primary goal is to make our business, and consequently our clients’ businesses, more stable and resilient.”
Despite one continent forming the central focus of Belousov’s participation in Lisbon, one thing became crystal clear from our brief get together; the world is awash with opportunity and GR8 Tech intends to seize the initiative with both hands.
Confidence and optimism in the company’s range of services is clear, and buoyed by a strategic change of focus, the CEO certainly holds much belief and trust that the road being trodden will lead to further triumph.
