UK-based venture capital firm Ikigai Ventures announced its year-end results at the SiGMA Americas Summit in Brazil this week.  The company specialises in funding innovative technologies and iGaming start up projects.

During his keynote speech as Ikigai’s results were announced, Founder and CEO Eman Pulis said that the fund has a strong track record of value creation. and Ikigai’s strategic plan is the acquisition of four start-up projects over four years. He explained that the selection is made based on market share and potential, M&A record and technology advantage.

Incubation strategy

In 2022, Quantum Gaming, a B2B platform was selected and launched. The second project, Wicked Games, was selected this year. A payments company has been selected for 2024 and in 2025, the opportunity was offer to a live studio, a subsidiary of Wicked Games.

The company’s focus this year is to ensure that Quantum Gaming is profitable and that the level of communication with stakeholders is improved via quarterly reports and newsletters. Ikigai will also enhance Quantum Gaming’s brand visibility through media platforms.

Our mission is to incubate projects from the ground up. And what we mean by incubating is that we look for the rock stars of the industry. We approach them and offer them the opportunity to become owners of the business.” Eman Pulis – Founder and CEO – Ikigai Ventures

After its launch in 2022, Ikigai introduced its innovative fund strategy of incubated projects in the iGaming industry. This approach involved partnering with the foremost experts in this sector, providing unparalleled support and taking majority positions and board seats in promising ventures.

Their flagship project, Quantum Gaming, a turnkey casino and white-label solution provider, has quickly become one of the fastest-growing start-ups. Quantum Gaming is a cutting-edge and scalable Player Account Management (PAM) platform designed for the casino sportsbook and esports markets. It incorporates advanced technologies such as CMS, Games Portfolios, CRM, AI, and KYC tools. Built with Java no SQL microservices, the platform offers high load capacity, cost-effectiveness, and rapid deployment.

Within Quantum Gaming, there are several underlying assets, including iLottoSolutions and WikiBet. Quantum Gaming is on track to break-even this year.

Ikigai has been an integral part of Quantum’s rapid growth. With both introductions and advisory offered by the fund, we have avoided start-up pitch falls and hurdles. We feel privileged to have such backing.” Oliver de Bono – Quantum Gaming

Overall, 2022 was a successful year for Ikigai Ventures. Despite macroeconomic challenges,  high-potential opportunities were identified.  

First of all, it’s an honor to be here. It’s an honor to be presenting the results. I won’t try, I’ll try not to get into the specifics, but I would like to mention Centurion – it was one of the first companies that we invested in and they came to us with basically nothing more than a business plan.” Vinícius Moraes de Carvalho, Investment Partner – Ikigai Ventures

Fast growing edtech company

In 2023, Ikigai saw a strong start with strategic investments in Kero, iGaming Academy (iGA), and EverX all aligned with portfolio objectives. Kero, with its TikTok-inspired interface and powerful AI represents a solid bet in social betting and is poised to revolutionise the iGaming industry. EverX, with its technology showcased by winning tenders to develop Central Bank Digital Currency, aligns naturally with the VC’s strategy.

iGA

iGA, a fast-growing edtech company with strong commercial ties in the iGaming industry, exemplifies the fund’s ability to secure valuable deals at zero cost, leveraging resources for the benefit of stakeholders.

Glitnor

Glitnor is a unique investment within the fund and the only post-series A company invested in. Since its establishment in 2018 Glitnor has achieved impressive year-on-year growth of 92 percent. The management team boasts extensive experience, including successful exits in their track record. Glitnor has plans to go public through an IPO within the next two years, In 2022, Glitnor generated €68 million in revenue with an EBITDA of €4 million.

Triggy

Triggy is a B2B Sports Tech company that combines sports data, odds and user insights to engage the next generation of fans and bettors. Triggy helps sportsbook operators, affiliates, and media companies monetise users and increase lifetime values through efficient acquisitions and improved retention. Their marketing automation widget is particularly beneficial for media companies with sports content, catering to the mobile-centric next generation.

In 2022 Triggy experienced strong growth, with a revenue increase of 150 percent and a significant expansion in their client base. With positive EBITDA in Q1 and expected cash flow positivity by year-end Triggy is entering 2023 with a focus on accelerating growth through new clients and scaling with existing ones.

We at Triggy are very excited to have Ikigai Ventures as investors. Ikigai, together with SiGMA bring a wealth of knowledge and an incredible network of potential Triggy customers in affiliates, sportsbooks, and media companies that are looking to engage and convert fans to bettors.” Martina Akerlund, Triggy

Kero Sports

The company’s recent funding round attracted prominent iGaming venture capital firms such as ACIES, Yolo, and Happy Hour, highlighting the industry’s confidence in Kero’s potential. Kero is currently transitioning its product from a Free-to-Play (FTP) experience within professional sports team apps to a Real-Money Gaming (RMG) version for sports betting operators. In 2022, they tripled their FTP business, retained all customers from 2021, and successfully closed a US $2 million financing round, doubling their team size. For 2023, Kero secured its first technical integration for the RMG version. Key product milestones include the launch of a fixed odds product for NFL.

Centurion FC

Centurion FC is an MMA company that focuses on delivering captivating online experiences through advanced technology. Centurion FC utilises cutting-edge technologies to enhance viewer engagement, including graphically augmented video streams with real-time data, multiple VR camera feeds, a voting system, affiliate integrations, and Metaverse integration. Ikigai has actively supported Centurion FC by featuring their fights in every SiGMA event. The company aims to expand to 12 events in 2024, establishing a strong presence in key geographical markets.

iGaming Academy

iGaming Academy (iGA) is a prominent provider of compliance and job skills training for gaming businesses globally. It specialises in helping operators and suppliers meet regulatory requirements in various jurisdictions.

The company experienced substantial growth in 2022, particularly in North American markets, where they acquired over 25 new clients.
iGA is on the verge of finalising a significant partnership with the University of Las Vegas, which presents a vast potential market of over 400,000 staff members. iGA has established strategic partnerships with renowned organisations worldwide, further solidifying its position as the industry’s leading training institution. Notable partnerships include The Gaming Standards Association and Malta Gaming Authority.

Everx

EverX, formerly known as TON Labs, is a key developer of the Everscale blockchain. EverX has incubated three additional innovative products: FLEX, a decentralized exchange; GOSH, a cloud platform for deploying and managing OS repositories; and Ever Surf, a blockchain browser/wallet.
The engineering team at EverX comprises over 50 highly skilled developers and researchers, including four finalists from prestigious programming contests.

 

Racing Stars

Racing Stars is a unique sports betting platform that revolutionises the traditional model by eliminating the “house” and offering a pool betting experience. They prioritise responsible gambling and player engagement. In 2021 Racing Stars emerged as the winners of SiGMA’s start-up pitch competition. Since then, they have developed the initial version of their product and recently secured funding led by SB Ventures.

With the recent funding, Racing Stars has brought all development in-house and expanded their team to include four dedicated developers.

After winning the SiGMA Startup Pitch, we have gone from strength to strength as a company. Not only did this give us great exposure, leading to pivotal parrtnerships, but we have also gained a partner that has supported us and helped play a key part in our development. We can’t thank them enough.” Danny Williams – Racing Stars

Umnai

A neuro-symbolic machine learning framework empowering humans to build and control powerful & transparent automation at any scale for any application. Strong MOAT with 40 patents filed in three jurisdictions with 15 patents granted combined with a successful and experienced team makes UMNAI a strong investment.

After years of development, Umnai is ready to launch. The initial go-to-market strategy is focused on FinTech and the financial services industry in general in the United Kingdom. Some of the highlights include POC with a million EUR plus project.

Recent developments include pricing definition, the relocation of key personnel to the United Kingdom, and the formation of an Advisory Board with a focus on Fintech.

Quizando

Quizando is a platform that focuses on social gaming, offering interactive video-based quizzes that allow users to become game show hosts. Their anytime quizzes attract a large number of players each month. The company is continuously developing new game modes, providing hosts with the option to run various live events. The updated portfolio of games will include three new modes, which are currently in the final testing phase.

In addition to its consumer-facing platform, Quizando has a B2B division that collaborates with partners like United Colors of Benetton, World Wide Fund for Nature, and Cinnabon. The company is also launching a second white-labelled solution for this segment.

An important milestone for Quizando is the launch of its QUIZ token. There is also a possibility of a full-on acquisition.

Token Allocations

In 2022, the blockchain market faced challenges due to macroeconomic conditions, loss of trust in the sector and increased scrutiny from regulators. This led to a cautious investment strategy, focused on specific projects and sub-sectors within the industry. However, the fund imported five projects from SiGMA’s portfolio, representing zero-cost allocations – Acta Finance, Unigrid, Dexsport, 3air, and Revoland.

Looking ahead to 2023, they anticipate a slow start in the blockchain market but expect stability and growth in the later half of the year, believing the recent crisis will separate committed players from those who are not, resulting in more solid projects.

Fastex

Fastex, a gaming ecosystem incubated by SoftConstruct in the Web3 arena, utilises its native token Fast Token (FTN) as a utility token for its B2B and B2C solutions. FTN will be integrated into SoftConstruct’s extensive network of over 40 million users, 2 million active users, and 700 operators, facilitating trade agreements and entertainment fulfilment.

SoftConstruct boasts a vast workforce of 7000+ employees, 700+ partners, and operates in 20 countries, expecting an annual revenue of over $6 billion.

Fastex, initially built on Ethereum, plans to migrate its ecosystem to the Fastex Chain, a new consensus mechanism called Proof-of-stake-activity (PoSA).

Unigrid Foundation

Unigrid is a decentralised communication platform focused on providing data storage and compute cycle utilisation. Users can contribute their resources by hosting service nodes and supplying bandwidth, computing cycles, and storage space.  The project also secured a significant round of funding from a tier-1 venture capital firm. In 2023, Unigrid plans to launch its new network, hedgehog, and initiate B2B sales activities. Additionally, it intends to conduct a public sale at the end of the year.

Dexsport

The platform is a DeFi prediction platform that includes: sports betting, play-to-earn betting, prediction market, P2P prediction on cryptocurrency rates.

Dexsport ended the year of 2022 with 8,000 users, 200,000 bets placed, 1,100,000 Total Value Locked in the protocol and 12,000 DESU holders. The year also saw the company deploying its mainnet.

For 2023, the product roadmap predicts the launch of the Pink update. This update aims to implement a complete gamification of the platform with a customizable public user profile and performance improvement.

Acta Finance

ActaFi is a cross-chain interoperable DeFi ecosystem initially launched on Avalanche.

With a strong investor base and support from KOLs, ActaFi has a global audience reach of over 14 million people. In 2023, ActaFi plans to transition to a DAO, where presale investors will have voting rights. Although not enthusiastic about this structure, as a fund, we remain confident in the platform itself. ActaFi expects to enter the market by the end of Q1, with a public listing anticipated in Q2.

3Air

3air aims to revolutionise broadband connectivity in African countries by becoming a cross-border Internet Service Provider (ISP) offering affordable rates and speeds of up to 1 Gbps.

While facing delays in obtaining a licence from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the company is shifting its focus towards launching a global SIM card as an alternative. This strategic move allows them to tokenize their virtual mobile operator services, integrating blockchain technology and adjusting legal aspects, and positioning themselves as a white-label solution for communities and other projects.

Revoland

The gaming platform partnered with Huawei Cloud to release a play-to-earn model. It also received backing from investors such as Polygon Ventures and HashKey Capital. The user base is not growing as expected, however, and development was shifted to a Web3 gaming ecosystem called Chain X Game. Further positive movements in this token are not expected, so ownership is slowly being liquidated as the vesting period matures.