Pontus Lindwall, CEO of Betsson, believes there’s always room for innovation in the iGaming industry despite the challenges that operators and suppliers alike face across different markets.
Speaking on the SBC Leaders podcast with Sue Schneider, Co-Founder of Defy the Odds Startup Launchpad, Lindwall examined how the sector can continue to flourish and grow amidst continued challenges.
The Betsson CEO said: “I think we see innovation all the time going forward. I remember just a few years ago, I was at presentations of new technical innovations for this industry. Now, three years later, they’re up and running and they may even be sold. There’s always gonna be room for innovation.
“I’m pretty sure that there are going to be things in this industry that are viewed as successes in four or five years that we don’t even know about today.”
Schneider then asked Lindwall how companies can adapt to the rules across different regions that can sometimes slow down new ideas.
Lindwall explained that while innovation in the gambling industry is sometimes limited by legislation, ideas are going to have to work and comply with the rules set out by the regulators.
He noted: “Of course, if regulations were a little bit more in harmony with each other or consolidated, it would be a lot easier for the operators, but that has never been on the radar for regulators. It’s not even their interest.
“I think we just have to cope with the fact that we have to live with lots of different regulations and lots of different technical demands that we have to get comfortable with. I believe that’s how it’s going to be.
“When it comes to innovation and startups, it’s very hard today to think ‘I’m going to do a startup and I’m going to go across all the US’ as an example with regulated gaming. That’s a tough one.”
Schneider brought up the topic of prediction markets and sweepstakes games in the US, to which Lindwall pointed out that this is an example of how there is still room for improvement and new ideas from the industry.
“Prediction markets and things like that, that’s a really good sign that there is still room for innovation because that’s innovative.”
Lindwall also spoke to Schneider about the early stages of his career in the iGaming industry, the challenges faced, compliance and the advice he would give to anyone entering the gaming space for the first time.
