Yolo Group CEO Maarja Pärt discusses why Coingaming has rebranded to Yolo Group, how the company structure fits the group’s strategic vision, and what it means to be a ‘Yoloer’.
You’ve probably already seen the news this week that Coingaming is now the Yolo Group, following a rebrand designed to better reflect our business and vision.
The time was right to reconsider our identity. It has been more than seven years since I was part of a small team which launched Bitcasino back in 2014, and in that time we’ve grown from just a handful of people into a modern, forward-thinking company of more than 600 working on a diverse range of products and services.
These span B2C and B2B, across gaming, blockchain, fintech and more. While the Coingaming identity has served us well up to this point, it no longer reflects who we are.
With our venture capital arm already trading under the Yolo Investments name, we felt Yolo Group was the perfect name to capture exactly our essence, our mindset and our vision for the future.
Strategic vision
Within the Yolo Group will sit five business verticals which cover the wide range of sectors and activities we are active across. It also gives us the space to grow into new fields over the coming months and years.
Most SBC readers will already be familiar with some of our B2C brands which will now sit within Yolo Entertainment, including Bitcasino and Sportsbet.io.
I’m personally so proud to have been involved at every step of the journey as both have grown into some of the most beloved gaming brands in the world. This restructure gives Bitcasino and Sportsbet.io a clear path within Yolo Entertainment to continue to innovate and deliver the very best user experience to our players.
We also have Yolo Investments, our fast-growing venture capital fund which was the first of our business verticals to take the Yolo name. Yolo Investments holds equity in more than 50 companies across gaming, fintech, blockchain and more, with an AUM in excess of 350 million euros. It continues to look for exciting new opportunities, and has recently launched an employee options plan in the fund.
Also under the Yolo Group umbrella will be Yolo Finance, our fintech and banking arm where we are already applying the same appetite for disruption that has served us so well in gaming.
Then we have Yolo Ventures, for JVs with some of our strategic partners, and Yolo Tech, where we will continue to deliver high-quality products and services on a B2B basis.
In short, this rebrand and restructure allows each of these business areas to better take control of their own destinies, while continuing to enjoy the benefits of being part of the wider Yolo Group ecosystem.
Meet the Yoloers
Aside from the strategic importance of this restructure, I’ve been asking myself an even bigger question over the past few weeks: what exactly does it mean to be a Yoloer?
For me, the Yolo mindset is about leaving nothing behind and throwing yourself into everything. It’s about making the most of whatever life puts your way, and turning challenges into opportunities.
It’s also about understanding that we are all a part of something bigger than ourselves, and that building a culture where we can all thrive is the best way to move forwards.
As Coingaming, we achieved some great things I’ll forever value; as Yolo Group, we’re setting out for the moon.