Announcing LaunchPad start-ups

Four companies have been selected from over 10 qualifying applications to participate in the 2009 LaunchPad. They will pitch their innovative business ideas and stake their claim to being “the next big thing”. But will the experts agree? Each company will have 5 minutes to pitch their business proposition, covering important factors such as the difficulties of getting to a trading position, their USP and vision for the company, and what they hope to achieve in 2010.

The Start-ups are:

Tailorbet offers an automated, peer-to-peer service that allows customers to create customised bets on anything statistically quantifiable in sports, with or without odds, and will be presented by David McKenzie, its founder and president.

USM is developing new casino software technology that will challenge current business models and offer an alternative to gaming operators. Based in Copenhagen, USM will be represented by the CEO, Kevin Mikkelsen, previously with PokerChamps, Betfair and the Malta Remote Gaming Council.

Jacky Betting from Sweden is bringing a new proposition for sports pools with a strong social media context, and will be pitched by the Chairman, Stefan Mattsson.

MasterGrinders is a French start-up developing an innovative, community-based, consumer facing affiliate platform for mass-multitable poker players and will be presented by its founder Stéphane Lecocq.

2009 experts panel:

• Mark Blandford, Director, Valhalla Investments
• Dave McDowell, CEO, FSB Technology (UK) Ltd
• Alistair Assheton, President, VIP.com
• Adam Valkin, Head of Digital Media and New Business, Endemol
• Moderator: Simon Holliday, Director, H2 Gambling Capital

Click here to view the Start-ups Q & A Session

EiG LaunchPad 2008
Four companies participated in 2008 unveiling their vision of how to revolutionise the gambling industry: eGaming 2.0, Pikum, Smarkets and FSB Tech. It was FSB Tech, with their B2B sports betting based on individual player’s performance, that unanimously won the top prize.

Following their exposure and recognition at EiG 2008, FSB Tech quickly signed their first licensee in December, raised £750k in investment and has been busy signing up licensees from across the online gaming industry.

Click HERE to hear FSB Tech’s Dave McDowell talk about his LaunchPad experience and about their proposition presented at the LaunchPad last year.

To hear more about the Start-up Launchpad, please click on the video interview (above) with Clarion Gaming's Programme Manager, Ewa Bakun.